Enel Completes Italy’s Largest Solar Power Plant

Enel, Italy’s largest electrical utility, expects its newest solar plant to yield over 7 million kilowatt hours per year. The solar plant, completed this year, is located in Montalto di Castro situated in Viterbo province, and houses 6 MW of photovoltaic solar electricity. The solar plant is the largest currently in Italy. Enel has continued to show a commitment to the renewable energy industry. 

The solar plant is expected to produce enough energy to power 2,700 households and sits on 10 hectares of surface space. Additionally, Enel announced last week, that the eco-friendly power facility will also prevent about 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Sharp is responsible for providing the solar panels for the power facility.

Although Italy’s largest solar power plant, this is not Enel’s first solar power plant in Italy. The company installed 3.3 MW in Salerno in 1993, which marked the country’s first ever large scale solar power facility. The solar power plant in Salerno is still operating today over ten years later.

Enel develops sustainable energy projects throughout Italy and the world in areas such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass industries. The company boasts almost 4,500 MW of renewable energy capcaity.

Last year, Enel stated that they would build a 0.5 MW fuel cell power facility in Italy as well. The fuel cells would be provided by Ansaldo, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, an Italian aerospace engineering company. The company is also planning to expand to the natural gas and oil industries to combat global carbon dioxide emissions.