Enel

Enel is Italy’s biggest power company, and Europe’s second-largest listed utility. Listed on the Milan and New York stock exchanges since 1999, Enel is the European company with the largest number of shareholders, at some 2.3 million. It has a market capitalisation of about EUR41 billion at current prices.

ENEL SHAREHOLDERS

The Italian Economy Ministry holds 21.3% of the company directly and another 10.1% indirectly through state-run lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, leaving a free-float of some 68.4%. Shareholders include leading international investment funds, insurance companies and pension funds, ethical funds, along with Italian retail investors.

Thanks to its Code of Ethics, Sustainability Report, to its environmental protection policy and the adoption of international best practices for transparency and corporate governance, Enel has been included in the world’s most selective ethical indices, such as the FT4Good and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

ENEL BUSINESS DESCRIPTION AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

Enel produces and sells electricity mostly in Europe, North and Latin America. In the power business, Enel has 42,000 Megawatt of generating capacity and 30 million electricity customers.

Enel is also the second-largest Italian distributor and vendor of natural gas, with over 2 million customers and a 12% market share.

 The company has about 52,000 employees and operates 43 thermal plants, 495 hydro facilities, 31 geothermal plants, 18 wind farms and 5 photovoltaic plants, in addition to more than a million kilometres of power lines, in Italy and abroad.

In 2005, Enel posted  revenues of EUR34.1 billion. Earnings before interest and taxes reached EUR5.5 billion, while net profit was EUR2.7 billion.

Enel was the first utility in the world to replace its customers’ traditional electromechanical meters with modern electronic devices that make it possible to take meter readings in real time and manage contractual relationships remotely.

This innovation has enabled Enel to implement time-of-use electricity charges, which offer customer savings for evening and weekend electricity use, an initiative that has attracted interest from many utilities around the world.

ENEL INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Enel is actively seeking expansion abroad in the power and gas market after having completed the sale of non-core assets. 

Enel runs operations in Spain in the generation, distribution and sale of electricity with Enel Viesgo, which has about 2,200 MW in installed capacity, and with Enel Union Fenosa Renovables, a company active in the wind and hydro power sector.

In the renewables, Enel is one of the largest independent operators in the Americas with Enel North America and Enel America Latina, two companies that have more than 500 MW of installed capacity. With 17,000 MW in plants using renewable energy resources (hydro, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass) across the world, Enel is a world leader in the sector.

In Bulgaria, Enel acquired control of one of the country’s largest power plants, Maritza East III, in March 2003. The lignite-fired facility has a capacity of 840 MW.

In Slovakia, in April 2006, Enel acquired 66% of Slovenske Elektrarne (SE), the largest electricity generator in the country, and the second-largest in Central and Eastern Europe, with a generation capacity of 7000 MW, a mix of nuclear, thermal and hydro assets.

In Romania, Enel acquired 51% of two electricity distribution companies in April 2005: Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea, which supply 1.4 million customers, or 20% of the Romanian market.

In Russia, Enel took over the operation ‑ in partnership with the local private group ESN Energo ‑ of the North-West Thermal Power Plant in St. Petersburg in June 2004. The gas-fired combined-cycle plant has a capacity of 450 MW.