Italian sovereign wealth fund joins forces with Eni to deploy 1 GW of solar and wind

Italian sovereign wealth fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Equity (CDP Equity), which is administered by government-run Italian investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), has joined forces with Italy’s gas and oil provider Eni and created a joint venture to invest in the renewable energy sector in Italy.

The newly created company, called GreenIT, will be owned 51% by Eni and 49% by CDP Equity and will invest around €800 million in wind and solar projects by 2025. This sum, according to Eni, would be enough to deploy around 1 GW of renewable energy capacity.

Eni, whose largest shareholder is the Italian government with a 30.33% stake, specified that properties owned by CDP and the Italian public administration may be used to build the power plants. The project pipeline will also comprise the repowering of existing renewable energy facilities and shovel-ready projects that have already secured approval.

Eni has recently completed a 31 MW solar plant at one of its chemical industry sites in Sardinia and is planning to install 220 MW of PV power plants in the country, as well as a 14 MW floating PV project. It also launched a partnership with Italian state-owned utility Enel to bring online 20 MW of hydrogen capacity between 2022 and 2023.

CDP is also the largest shareholder of Italian energy company Snam, through CDP Reti Spa, which it owns together with State Grid Corporation of China and other investors. Snam has recently announced a plan to invest in hydrogen.