Enel plans solar tracker factory as part of plant reconversion plans

MILAN, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Italy’s Enel has reached a deal to build a solar tracker factory at a giant power plant it is converting into a green energy hub as part of plans to cut its carbon footprint.

Europe’s biggest utility said on Thursday that Italian solar power company Comal (CMLA.MI) would build the factory to make tracker devices – which allow solar panels to follow the sun throughout the day – at the Montalto di Castro power plant in southern Italy.

The move is part of Enel’s plans to redevelop disused power plants and create new renewable energy and storage facilities alongside other business projects.

Enel, which has pledged to phase out its coal-fired plants by 2027, is looking to cut its global emissions by 80% from 2017 levels by 2030 and aims to have a wholly green power portfolio by 2040.

Comal’s factory for the tracker devices will be built in a 30,000 square metre (322,917 sq. ft) area at the site which is being wound down.

Oil-fired capacity at Montalto di Castro has already been mothballed but gas-fired turbines still generate power when needed by the grid.

Enel, which had 12.4 gigawatts of conventional capacity in Italy as of the end of last September, has applied for permits to build a 10 megawatt solar plant at the site which used to have a gross capacity of around 3.6 GW.

Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Susan Fenton

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