Enel Secures Three EU-Funded Contracts to Produce Green Hydrogen Under National Recovery and Resilience Plan
Enel, the Italian energy giant, has secured three contracts under the EU-funded post-COVID National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to produce green hydrogen. The projects are part of Italy’s plan to make the country’s economy greener and more modern. Enel’s Italy director, Nicola Lanzetta, announced that the company has won almost EUR 4 billion in NRRP funds by submitting various projects, mainly in the ‘Green Revolution and Ecological Transition’ (M2) mission.
The contracts involve investments in distribution networks with a smart grids perspective, the expansion of the 3Sun photovoltaic panel factory in Catania, the development of plants for the production of green hydrogen, and the improvement of the water infrastructure of the Pozzillo dam in Enna. Enel has been awarded NRRP funds totalling around 38 million euros in the regions of Puglia, Calabria and Liguria for projects on the production of green hydrogen in disused industrial areas.
According to Lanzetta, Enel has been awarded first place in the merit list in each tender. The projects will allow the valorisation of areas where there are disused thermoelectric power plants, including the Rossano plant in Calabria, the Federico II plant in Brindisi, and the Eugenio Montale plant in La Spezia. These projects will help Enel to achieve its goal of producing green hydrogen and make Italy a leader in renewable energy production.
Five ‘Hydrogen Valleys’ funded
Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mission 2 ‘Green Revolution and Ecological Transition’, 17 project proposals were deemed suitable for the construction of renewable hydrogen production plants in abandoned industrial areas. This initiative aims to encourage the production of electrolytic hydrogen from renewable energy sources or grid electricity while promoting the economic recovery of local economies and the reuse of unused industrial areas.
Out of the 17 proposals, five will be financed immediately with funds amounting to €40 million. The Solarind Green Srl plant at the Taranto steelworks and the Ce.ri.sma project Srl in Campi Salentina will each receive €10 million, while the Cerichem Biopharm plant in Cerignola will receive €9 million and 860 thousand euros. The Enel Spa plant to be built in Cerano in the province of Brindisi will receive €9.8 million, and the Hydrogen Valley of Panita Srl in Statte near the former Ilva will receive €340 thousand.
Alessandro Delli Noci, Councillor for Economic Development, expressed his excitement about the project, stating that “Transforming abandoned industrial areas into places of green hydrogen production and making decarbonization projects possible is the challenge we wanted to take up through the Call for the Hydrogen Valley flagship project.” With 26 project applications received, Puglia is the first Italian region followed by Lombardy with 13 projects.
The Taranto area is strengthening its position in the green hydrogen landscape
The Taranto area is strengthening its position in the green hydrogen landscape with two out of five admitted projects approved and financed by the Region.
The regional green light has been given to Solarind Green srl of Lecce and Panita srl of Cuneo for their investments in Taranto and Statte, respectively. The investments are in the vicinity of Acciaierie d’Italia, formerly Ilva. Fillea, the CGIL federation of construction workers, has proposed the conversion of the inactive Cemitaly plant into a place of hydrogen production.
The conversion proposal will be discussed at a meeting convened on Tuesday, which will be attended by trade union confederations, construction organizations, Confindustria Taranto, and Cemitaly itself.
The regional call that finances two hydrogen projects in the Taranto area is not the only intervention, as other companies, such as Dri d’Italia, Renantis, BlueFloat Energy, Eni, Enel Green Power, Edison, Saipem, Alboran, and Renexia, have also planned investments in green hydrogen in the area.
