Due to social and economic issues and advances in technology the world's energy system is undergoing some significant changes. The economic crisis, competition from emerging nations, the more widespread use of renewable energy and the increasingly active role of customers are all advances that offer new challenges to which energy businesses that wish to compete internationally need to adapt and stay ahead of.
The Enel Group has been doing this for many years, through a policy of internationalisation that has led it to have a presence in dozens of countries across four continents. This means that recession in some regions are well compensated for by the growth that is taking place in places like Latin America.
Enel Green Power is a global leader in renewable energy with an installed capacity of 8.7 gigawatts over 740 plants in 16 countries. Its mix includes wind, solar and hydro power, geothermal energy and biomass, and a has a turnover of which only 22 percent depends on subsidies. The renewable energy sector is one of the key strategic priorities of Enel's business plan, which provides for about €6billion of investment over the period 2013-2017 and has the goal of creating over 12GW of capacity.
In order to encourage the development of renewable energy and meet the needs of increasingly knowledgeable customers, Enel is investing heavily in energy efficiencyand smart grids, fields in which it pioneered the development and installation of electronic meters.
A number of cutting-edge projects are being developed by the Group in Italy, Spain, Romania, France, the United States, Brazil, Chile and other Latin American countries. Their common goal is to do away with waste, reduce negative environmental effects and increase efficiency and sustainability in both energy generation and consumption, making our towns and cities more livable and healthy.