European energy giant Enel has announced a partnership with Italian solar power company Comal to build a solar tracker manufacturing facility in Italy with up to 1 GW annual capacity inside the thermoelectric oil and gas fired Montalto di Castro Power Plant of the former, currently being decommissioned.
To be called Tracker Sun Hunter, the factory will be located in an area of over 30,000 sq. mtr. Preparatory works are planned to be started soon. Enel said the project is aimed at producing Italy made trackers to support the growth of a national renewable energy supply chain and 'bringing back to Italy the production of devices that until now were imported'.
Enel is currently working on securing authorization to build a new 10 MW solar power plant on site and also add energy storage systems on site with a combined capacity of about 245 MW, to turn the site into the 'largest' of the multifunctional energy production facilities it is building in the country.
"The initiative is part of the Enel Group's broader commitment to the new development of the sites of its disused plants, following a redevelopment strategy that prioritizes the leveraging of existing structures and the integration of new renewable production plants and storage systems, combined with new business projects in different areas," stated Enel.
The company recently preponed its net zero target by a decade to 2040 with 154 GW of renewables to be installed by the group by 2030 (see 154 GW Renewables For Enel By 2030).
Enel is already engaged in solar module production based on heterojunction technology in Italy which it plans to expand to 3 GW annual capacity (see 3 GW Bifacial HJT Modules Fab In Europe). In January 2022, Enel's renewable energy arm Enel Green Power (EGP) CEO Salvatore Bernabei said the group plans to build a similar solar module factory in the US.
For background on solar trackers, please check TaiyangNews first market survey on solar trackers covering 36 tracker products from 19 companies (see TaiyangNews Solar Trackers Market Survey 2021).