Enel Green Power is reinforced in South Africa with additional 425 MW of wind power

Enel Green Power is reinforced in South Africa with additional 425MW of wind power. And its presence in Africa is also the prelude to a possible growth in Asia and the Pacific, with geothermal, wind, solar and hydropower projects.

“Asia is our next step”, said Enel Green Power’s CEO Francesco Venturini in a recent interview with the Reuters press agency, in which he explained that for EGP the East is a horizon and an objective, to be reached by studying its market and capitalising the company’s growth in Africa, a springboard towards more evolved countries like those in Asia, where the development of renewable energy is undergoing a tumultuous onset.

The recent agreement with Mirubeni corporation, one of the major Japanese trading and investment groups, which is very active in the energy sector, shows how important markets in Asia and the Pacific are for EGP. “This agreement will allow us to seize growth opportunities in all renewable technologies, in an area with abundant resources and high development potential. We’re focusing on one of the fastest growing areas in the world, making our know-how and experience available while also benefitting from the partnership with an Asian group that is at the forefront as regards technology and has a solid business network”, explained Venturini.

Seven countries and four technologies are the scope of the agreement with Mirubeni, which centers primarily on the Philippines, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia, and will focus on geothermal, wind, solar and hydropower projects that are being developed. But the Memorandum of Understanding with the Japanese company has a wider scope: “About a year ago – Venturini told Reuters – we moved our new business development team from Africa to Asia, which is wealthier and more developed, with a wider consumer base”.

The bridge that joins today’s Africa with tomorrow’s Asia, for EGP is based on a growth trend whose most striking example is South Africa. In fact, in the ‘rainbow country’ it owns and manages the 10MW Upington solar PV plant, and has started building three solar parks, 66MW Tom Burke, 82.5MW Paleisheuwel and 82.5MW Aurora, as well as the 111MW Gibson Bay wind farm. It also just won additional 425MW from wind power projects in the fourth stage of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), promoted by the South African government, to be added to the 513MW that were assigned to EGP in the third stage of this tender.