Enel’s chief executive has launched a robust defence of the Italian state-controlled utility’s renewable energy push, as he faces potentially being ousted by the new government in Rome as soon as next month.
Francesco Starace has transformed the €55bn power company into one of the world’s largest renewable energy producers since taking over in 2014. He said the shift had proven its worth during the energy crisis and would position the group well as the EU tries to end its reliance on Russian gas.
“What it boils down to is the company has delivered in 2022, which was a very, very tough year,” Starace told the Financial Times.
“This is the moment where this trajectory will show extremely well the strength we have in the system.”
Media reports have suggested that prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s new rightwing Italian government is interviewing other potential candidates for Starace’s job.
Italian officials have suggested that her advisers are dissatisfied with the 68-year-old chief executive’s focus on the energy transition. Meloni has previously backed increased domestic drilling for natural gas and criticised climate campaigners such as Greta Thunberg.
Starace has been a vocal supporter of shifting away from fossil fuels, and Enel now bills itself as the world’s largest renewable energy company, with 56GW of low-carbon energy under management.
The chief executive has advocated a drastic reduction of gas consumption for non-industrial purposes, while Enel is progressively shutting down its coal-fired plants as part of its zero-emission power generation target. He told the FT that there was little debate over this strategy, describing it as “clearly the way to go”.
Starace said Enel was in “complete agreement” with the new government’s efforts to diversify its energy sources away from Russia, describing energy security as “what matters to the sovereignty of any country”.
Enel is leaving Argentina, Peru and Romania as part of a €21bn divestment plan aimed at cutting its debt, which soared to €69bn at the end of 2022, partly because of additional costs that it incurred helping shield customers from rising wholesale prices. Rating agency Fitch said last week that the divestments “would moderately improve the group’s business profile and simplify its structure”.
On Monday, Enel will unveil a new solar panel factory in Sicily, partially funded by an EU grant, which is set to become Europe’s largest. Starace said Enel was planning a similar facility in the US, where the Biden administration has created large subsidies for renewable investments.
The move is part of a push to reduce the west’s reliance on China, the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels.
Meloni last year warned “that the transition to electric without controlling the raw material will make us even more dependent on China than we are on Russia”.
Starace described growth of renewables as “a huge trend that is way stronger than small mishaps that can happen on the way” and criticised those blaming soaring energy prices across Europe on a shift to clean energy.
“Why are we in this problem? Not because we are overly reliant on gas sources from only one country that went crazy, but because we had a green strategy? This is a complete distortion,” he said.
The Enel chief dismissed speculation about his future as “noise”, arguing that he saw no “contradiction” between the government and his strategy, but added that “no one is indispensable”.
“I like this job. I have done it, I think, pretty well and I think that’s recognised. But I’m not a power-obsessed person and I like my life. So if I can be useful, fine. If not, I can do a lot of other things,” Starace said.
“If someone else wants to take it over and the government wants to change, then what can I do about it? It’s OK.”
