Italian Oil Giant Eni Buys 800 MW Solar Portfolio in Greece

Italian energy group Eni, through Eni gas e luce, has acquired the Greek company Solar Konzept Greece for an undisclosed amount as part of its plans to shift away from oil and gas.

Solar Konzept Greece previously belonged to Solar Konzept International, which is majority owned by Aquila Capital, a sustainable investment and asset development company, based in Hamburg, Germany.

Solar Konzept Greece owns a photovoltaic plants’ development platform in Greece. The company’s portfolio includes a pipeline of projects at various stages of development, totalling around 800 MW. These projects form the basis for further development in the country, says Eni.

Eni gas e luce, which will become Plenitude this year, has been operating in the Greek retail energy market since 2000 and now has around 500,000 customers. The deal marks Eni’s entry into the Greek renewable electricity generation market and is part of its plan to grow renewable capacity together with vertically integrated activities in the power retail business.

This transaction is aligned to the company’s broader mission to become a leader in the production and sale of decarbonised products, Eni claimed in an official statement.

Eni last year put together its renewables and retail businesses. It is planning to list a minority stake in the unit next year to help fund its energy transition. As of the end of 2021, Eni gas e luce has a 1.2 GW portfolio of renewable capacity in operation, with a target to install over 6 GW by 2025 and over 15 GW by 2030.

Given its ample sun and wind, Greece has been a bit of a green energy laggard in Europe. In 2019, it produced just 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, compared with an EU average of 34 percent. However, the country is now attempting to phase out coal, its primary source of power, through encouraging more renewable energy projects to generate electricity.

By 2030, renewables are expected to exceed 61 percent of Greece’s electricity mix, surpassing EU targets, according to its latest National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).