Italian oil and gas group Eni is pushing ahead with its renewable energy plans, as it opened a new PV plant in the southern region of the country in partnership with local energy agency GSE.

The 26MW PV plant at Saline Conti Vecchi in the Assemini industrial area in the province of Cagliari is part of Progetto Italia, a series of Eni initiatives designed to add “sustainable value to its disused industrial areas”.

The solar project follows a collaboration agreement between Eni and GSE signed last June in which they committed to implementing technologies for energy production using renewable sources.

The energy produced by the solar panels will power the salt production cycle, which the Conti Vecchi company oversees, covering about 70% of total energy consumption.

Eni’s goal at the Assemini hub is to create a permanent laboratory for technological development in the environmental and energy field. The group also aims to create there “technologically advanced systems such as the concentrated solar power (CSP), developed by the Milan Polytechnic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni, said: “With Progetto Italia we want to bring new life to Syndial industrial areas that already underwent remediation and can host large-scale renewable energy plants.

“The €260m ($302m) investment will produce about 0.4 TWh/year of electricity from renewable sources in Italy. The Saline plant is expected to produce about 42 GWh/year, consolidating our strategy based on our long-term commitment to the country and enabling us to take an active part in the energy transition towards a low-carbon future”.

Transition

Eni pushes ahead with renewables in Italy with new PV plant