Italian oil group Eni has postponed plans to float its renewables and retail power unit Plenitude citing “volatile and uncertain” market conditions.
Eni was as recently as 9 June still talking up the prospects for a partial listing in Milan for Plenitude, the focus of its green power ambitions with a target for 15GW of capacity by 2030.
But the fossil group, which planned to maintain a controlling interest in Plenitude, said late on Thursday that since then “market conditions have deteriorated”.
“While there was strong and widespread investor interest in Plenitude and important support for its strategy, it was concluded that the volatility and uncertainty currently affecting the markets require a further phase of monitoring.”
Global markets have in recent months seen sustained turmoil as they are buffeted by factors spanning the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates and soaring inflation globally.
Plenitude, the new incarnation of Eni’s former gas and retail business, has this year already made moves in US renewable power and taken a stake in floating wind technology developer EnerOcean.
It is notably a 20% partner with Equinor and SSE in the 3.6GW Dogger Bank UK offshore wind project that is the world’s largest under construction.
Eni has set a longer-term target for the unit to have 60GW of capacity in place by 2050.
Following the postponement of the IPO plan Eni and Plenitude said they “will continue to monitor market conditions and deliver their strategy of offering decarbonised energy to their customers, through the development of renewables and electric mobility investments”.
