Italian Company Turns Pure-Play Renewables Company

• ERG says it has completed its business transformation to renewables with the sale of a CCGT plant in Syracuse 
• It sold the 480 MW project to Switzerland's Achernar Energy, and turns its attention to wind and solar power generation 
• The strategy is part of its Industrial Plan under which it aims to increase its renewables capacity to 4.6 GW till 2026 

Italian energy company ERG SpA has completed the sale of its last remaining thermal power plant with 480 MW installed capacity, which it says completes its business transformation to a pure wind and solar energy generator. 

The company sold its natural gas-powered combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) cogeneration plant through subsidiary ERG Power Generation to Switzerland's Achernar Energy in Priolo Gargallo (Syracuse). 

In June 2023, the management had pegged the value of the transaction at €191.5 million. Enel had been the original choice for the sale of this CCGT project but the deal did not get the approval of antitrust authorities. 

"With this operation we complete the transformation path towards a pure Wind & Solar business model, the primary objective of our Industrial Plan and a fundamental step towards achieving the Net Zero objective," said ERG CEO Paolo Merli.  

ERG is executing on its strategy to exit from hydroelectric and thermoelectric business under the company's 2022-2026 Industrial Plan to focus solely on renewables. Under this, it plans to increase its installed capacity to up to 4.6 GW with an addition of 2.2 GW till 2026. Focus will primarily be on pure wind and solar technologies. 

On its website, ERG mentions that it holds 175 MW installed PV capacity in Italy, 79 MW in France and 117 MW in Spain.