Enel GP focuses on emerging markets

Enel Green Power (Enel GP), Italy’s biggest renewable energy group, plans to boost its capacity some 60 per cent by 2016 via investments of more than 6 billion euros ($7.92 billion) as it focuses attention emerging markets.  EGP, which generates power from wind, sunlight, water, biomass and the earth’s heat, plans to add 4,500 megawatts of new capacity to 2016, some 38 per cent of which will be in emerging markets such as Turkey, Morocco and South Africa. “We have a very solid pipeline,” EGP Chief Executive Francesco Starace said in a conference call with investors presenting the group’s new 2012-2016 business plan. EGP’s strong cash flow would back capital investments, in line with the group’s current strategy, Starace said. About 2,200 MW out of the 4,500 MW of new planned capacity is already in execution, EGP said. Out of the remaining 2,300 MW, 55 per cent would come from emerging markets, while wind power generation would account for 65 per cent of the new growth.   Analysts see EGP’s broad geographic and technological mix as a strong point. But they have been concerned whether EGP would be able to keep up its current pace of capacity growth. At 0943 GMT EGP shares were up 3.0 per cent while the European utility index  was flat. EGP had a total installed capacity of 7,079 MW at the end of last year. EGP, controlled by Italy’s biggest utility Enel, said in a presentation its dividend policy under the new business plan will be for a 30 per cent payout, in line with existing policy. EGP said it expected annual average growth of core earnings at 13 per cent under the new plan, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising to about 2.6 billion euros in 2016 from about 1.7 billion euros in 2012.