The 2020-2022 Strategic Plan: sustainability that creates value

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“This new Plan demonstrates the success of the sustainable, integrated business model that we first adopted in 2015 in order to benefit from the opportunities in the energy sector deriving from the global trends of decarbonisation and electrification.” 

This is how Enel CEO and General Manager Francesco Starace introduced the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan, which was presented in Milan on 26 November.

Thanks to the integration of sustainability in all its lines of business, Enel is the world’s leading private operator in renewable energy and networks and has the largest retail customer base.

The Plan presented at Capital Markets Day 2019 outlines a further acceleration in the decarbonisation of power plants worldwide through significant investment - amounting to 14.4 billion euros about 50% of total capital expenditure. The idea is to progressively replace conventional generation methods by focusing on the growth of renewables.

It is expected that the Group will develop 14.1 GW of new renewable capacity by 2022 (+22% with respect to the previous Plan) and reduce coal capacity and production by 61% and 74%, respectively, from 2018 levels.  Renewables are forecast to represent 60% of total capacity in three years, with CO2-free production increasing to 68% in 2022.

Overall, the Group’s declared total organic investment for the three-year period amounts to 28.7 billion euros (+ 11% with respect to the previous Strategic Plan), which will lead to an expected EBITDA of €20.1 bn in 2022 (+13% compared to the €17.8 bn expected in 2019).

The full integration of sustainability into the Group’s strategy is also evident in the fact that approximately 95% of the total investment is directly connected to three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 7 (“Affordable and Clean Energy”), SDG 9 (“Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”) and SDG 11 (“Sustainable Cities and Communities”). All three contribute to SDG 13 (“Climate Action”).

Our financial strategy is increasingly focused on sustainability. In September and October 2019, we launched the first SDG-linked bonds in history, in Europe and the United States of America: “Thanks to our approach, Enel is today a more sustainable, efficient and profitable business, with a significantly reduced risk profile and an increased ability to adapt rapidly to changes,” Starace explained.

Significant investment is earmarked for the electrification of consumption. Approximately 1.2 billion euros will be leveraged for the growth and diversification of the retail client base, as well as the increased efficiency associated with the transfer of Enel activities to a new digital platform to manage energy supply at a global level.

A 11.8 billion euros investment in network digitalisation is directed at improving resilience and quality of services: “We are preparing our grid infrastructures and our client management processes for the future, investing in network digitalisation and the progressive transformation of Enel into a platform-based group,” Starace concluded.

Over the three-year period, Enel X will invest 1.1 billion euros in responses to the growing demand for value added services. Electrification, in particular, will increase, thanks to the 736,000 public and private electric vehicle charging points forecast by 2022. This is up from the 82,000 estimated in 2019.