With the TANGO project, Enel Green Power’s “sun factory”, created in Catania in 2010, is preparing to become Europe’s largest factory for the production of bifacial, high-performance photovoltaic modules. The 3Sun Gigafactory combines research and innovation to produce next-generation panels that support the Enel Group in ensuring clean, renewable energy and in building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly world.
The expansion of the factory will lead to a 15-fold increase in its production capacity, reaching 3 GW a year compared to today’s 200 MW. This will also result in an increase in direct and indirect local employment, creating 1000 jobs by 2024 in addition to serving as a catalyst to revitalize the photovoltaic value chain and contributing to Italy’s energy freedom.
Geothermal is a renewable energy source with substantial development prospects and is one that Enel Green Power is strongly committed to. The world’s oldest and most innovative geothermal complex is located in Tuscany and includes 34 geothermal systems, for a total of 37 production groups with the highest technological and environmental standards, spread across the three provinces of Pisa, Grosseto and Siena.
Today, geothermal power satisfies around a third of the region’s electricity needs, a figure destined to grow in the coming years. Our aim is to cultivate and fully develop the intrinsic potential of this unique area, with the hope that it becomes a positive model for all of Italy, encouraging forms of sustainable economy in line with the principles of the energy transition in all areas, from tourism to food production.
An opportunity for public administrations, a benefit for the environment and for citizens: we promote Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) as a solution to increase an area’s energy sustainability. The benefits are not limited solely to the environment; since the energy is produced at zero-production miles, emissions of CO2 are limited and losses from the grid are reduced – and as a result, so are economic and social costs.
Examples are the Ragusa Agricultural Energy Community and the newly created “Calderara Municipality Circular Community”, an energy community for collective self-consumption that, together with Enel X, we helped develop in Calderara di Reno, in Emilia-Romagna. In this municipality near Bologna, we’ve created 3 photovoltaic plants with a capacity of 75 kW (in addition to a pre-existing photovoltaic plant) and a technology platform for managing the energy community, leading to a reduction of more than 50 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year, equal to the annual absorption of more than 2,500 trees.
