Plenitude Inks 10-Year PPA for Wind Farm in Italy

Eni SPA-controlled Italian energy firm Plenitude has signed a 10-year corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with a steel company for the supply of energy produced 100 percent from a renewable source.

Plenitude’s agreement with Ferriera Valsabbia covers the entire output of a 15-megawatt (MW) wind farm owned by Plenitude and located in the municipality of Sannicandro di Bari in Apulia, Italy.

The energy generated by the plant, which will amount to more than 350 gigawatt-hours (GWh) over the entire period, will contribute to meeting the energy needs of Ferriera Valsabbia's facilities starting in September, Eni said in a news release.

"The agreement with Ferriera Valsabbia demonstrates our commitment to supporting also important industrial groups on their path to decarbonization. PPAs are not only a strategic lever for long-term energy price stabilization, but also an essential asset for the energy transition," Alessandro Della Zoppa, Plenitude Head of Renewables, said.

"With this PPA, we are taking a further step towards the decarbonization of our business, confirming the importance of establishing medium- to long-term partnerships with common goals," Ruggero Brunori, Ferriera Valsabbia CEO, said.

Plenitude operates in the energy market with a distinctive business model that integrates renewable production, energy sales and solutions and a wide network of charging points for electric vehicles, according to Eni. The company targets to reach over 8 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2027 and over 15 GW by 2030.

Ferriera Valsabbia is a steel company based in Odolo, located in the province of Brescia, Italy. It specializes in the production of reinforcing steel bars for reinforced concrete. The finished product, made by melting scrap iron in an electric arc furnace, contains more than 95 percent recycled material. With this agreement, Ferriera Valsabbia is further reducing its environmental impact by significantly increasing its use of energy from renewable sources, according to the release.

Last month, Plenitude inaugurated the 50-MW Villanueva II solar plant in Torrejoncillo del Rey, Cuenca, Spain. The park was developed over an area of almost 100 hectares and is connected to the national transmission grid at the Villanueva de los Escuderos junction via the Torrejoncillo del Rey electricity substation and a 17.4-mile (28-kilometer) overhead high-voltage line.

The facility has more than 76,000 photovoltaic modules and produces 100 GWh per year of electricity, Eni said in an earlier news release. The project was developed in partnership with the Zaragoza Group and Solida Renewables.

Also on the renewable energy front, Eni and local partner NC KazMunayGas JSC (KMG) started constructing a 250-megawatt renewable energy-gas power plant in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, in the same month.

The project is “Kazakhstan’s first hybrid power plant integrating solar, wind, and gas power to produce and supply low-carbon, stable electricity to KMG subsidiaries in the [Mangystau] region", Eni said in a separate statement. In the country’s renewable energy sector, Eni has 150 MW in declared installed capacity.

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