Naturgy accelerates the international expansion of its renewables business with the signing of several agreements to develop agrovoltaic and wind projects in Italy. The company already has more than 200 MW in the pipeline. This is a new milestone in the Group’s commitment to energy transition, which this year plans to invest at least 50% more in clean energies than it did in renewables in 2022.
The developments in Italy that are already underway consist of two solar installations with a total capacity of almost 200 MW, plus a further 35 MW of battery storage. The projects will be located in the regions of Puglia and Lazio. Both projects are at an advanced stage of administrative development and are expected to be operational by 2025.
Both are also proposed agrovoltaic projects, i.e. installed on farmland, with the aim of minimising their impact on the land and making them compatible with the agricultural activity of both regions.
Naturgy’s commitment to Italy upholds the company’s drive to develop its international renewables portfolio, given it already has projects in operation or under development in Australia and the United States, among other countries. “Naturgy has a clear, concrete and realistic renewables development objective in Europe as well. Italy is a further step in our commitment to reach 60% renewable energy generation worldwide in the coming years,” explained Jorge Barredo, the company’s managing director of Renewables, New Businesses and Innovation.
In addition to the two projects underway, Naturgy has reached several agreements with developers and local stakeholders to add new capacity to its portfolio. In this respect, the group has identified other potential developments with a capacity of over 800 MW.
Alongside the development of its first projects in the country, the company has opened an office in Rome from which it will coordinate and promote the development of its investments. This new office is headed up by Filipo Checcucci, Naturgy’s country manager in Italy, who has more than a decade of experience in different departments of the group.
Boosting renewables
Naturgy is working to strengthen its role in the energy transition and decarbonisation, with the ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and an installed capacity from renewable resources close to 60%.
Naturgy has a strategic roadmap with which it will boost its role in the energy transition and decarbonisation, with the ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and an installed capacity from renewable resources close to 60%. Approximately two thirds of the planned investment in the 2025 Strategic Plan will be dedicated to boosting renewable energy generation. The company currently has more than 5.5 GW of capacity in operation internationally and a portfolio of more than 195 projects in Spain, Australia and the United States.
In Spain, the company continues to make progress in the construction of nearly 30 wind and solar projects, which are expected to come into operation in the coming months.
Investments in renewable energies over the last few years confirm the company’s strategic shift towards a more sustainable energy mix and its commitment to the energy transition. All of this comes while maintaining the fundamental objectives of value creation and growth for each one of its businesses, as well as the ESG objectives.