Enel secures €560 million for 3 GW heterojunction panel factory in Italy

From pv magazine Italy

Italian power utility Enel has secured a €560 million financing package for a 3 GW heterojunction solar module factory in Catania, southern Italy.

“The financing was made possible through a collaborative effort between the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by InvestEU, and a pool of Italian banks, led by UniCredit and comprising BPER Banca  and Banco BPM, backed by SACE,” Italian bank Unicredit said in a press release. “The EIB financing also includes intermediated loans to commercial lenders for €118 million, which could be increased to up to €342 million in 2024, bringing the total EIB intervention in support of 3Sun to €389.5 million.”

The total investment in the module factory amounts to €600 million, with the European Union and the Italian government contributing up to €188 million to the TANGO (iTaliAN pv Giga factOry) project.

Enel’s unit Enel Green Power started building the factory in May 2023, with completion initially scheduled for summer 2023.

The company is betting on n-type heterojunction (HJT) cell with an efficiency of 25.5%. It said this could result in module efficiencies above 24%. From 2026, Enel plans to offer even more efficient solar modules based on tandem silicon-perovskite cells.