Italian group Enel plans to sell Romanian assets in 2023

Italian energy group Enel plans to sell its Romanian assets and exit the country next year, according to its 2023-2025 strategy revealed on Tuesday, November 22. Activities in Europe are set to center around Italy and Spain, while in Latin America, the group expects to exit from Peru and Argentina.

In Romania, the Enel Group serves about 3 million customers through its supply and distribution network, according to Economedia.ro. It is one of the largest private investors in the energy sector nationally.

In October, Profit.ro said the Greek Public Power Company (PPC) is gearing up to buy 70% of Enel Romania. However, a few days later, the Greeks from the PPC denied the information.

Enel said on Tuesday that it plans to sell assets worth around EUR 21 billion to reduce its debt. “The bulk of this plan is expected to be rolled out by the end of 2023, resulting in a more agile company focused on six core countries,” reads the press release. The six markets are Italy, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

The sale of Enel Russia and of the Fortaleza CCGT plant in Brazil was completed this year, and by year-end, the group expects to finalize the sale of transmission assets in Chile, of the distribution grids in Goiás, as well as the Gridspertise deal. Moreover, by the end of 2022, it is also planning to crystallize the value of its gas portfolio in Chile, the company said.

The Enel Group also said that it expects to invest a total of around EUR 37 billion between 2023 and 2025, of which 60% supporting the group’s integrated commercial strategy (generation, customers and services), and 40% allocated to grids to support their role as enablers of the energy transition.

“In the next three years, we will focus on integrated business models, digital know-how, as well as businesses and geographies that can add value despite the current challenging scenario, embracing a leaner structure and a more robust set of financial ratios. This will increase our resilience to potential future continued turbulence, as well as position our value creation towards further growth, benefitting all our stakeholders and accelerating energy independence in our core countries,” said Francesco Starace, CEO and General Manager of Enel.