(Finance) – The Board of Directors of ERG approved the Industrial Plan and the ESG Plan 2022-2026. The group aims to grow in the production of energy from renewable sources in the name of sustainability through a increase in installed power of 2.2 GW.
Erg’s strategy will continue to be focused on growth in renewables and in particular in “pure Wind & Solar technologies through a policy of portfolio repositioning, technological and geographical diversification and progressive revenue security”, explains ERG in a note. The group aims to grow its portfolio by increasing installed capacity up to 4.6 Gw (+2.2 Gw), of which around 650 Mw in solar and the first 50 Mw in electrochemical storage through projects under construction in the United Kingdom, Poland, France Sweden and Repowering in Italy: +0.5 GW; greenfield projects in wind and solar power: +0.5 GW; additional wind power repowering projects in Italy and abroad: +0.2 GW (on a differential basis); M&A transactions for approximately 1 GW (of which approximately 0.1 already finalized at the beginning of 2022).
Expected a EBITDA up from 399 million euros (Wind & Solar perimeter) in 2021 to 560 million in 2026, of which approximately 50% realized abroad.
Dividend annual increase to € 0.90 per share, sustainable over the plan period
In the new business plan, ERG provides investments for 2.9 billion euros, of which 2.8 billion for growth in renewables and in detail about 0.2 billion for the parks currently under construction, 0.7 billion for plant repowering, 0.5 billion for greenfield assets and 1.4 billion for M&A operations, of which 0.1 billion already completed at the beginning of 2022.
The plan includes a indebtedness at the end of 2026 equal to 2.1 billion euros (2.0 billion euros at the end of 2021).
“Thanks to the results achieved in 2021, in terms of growth and transformation of the business model, we are now in a position to relaunch, raising the level of challenge to be even more protagonists of the energy transition in Italy and Europe. – commented Paolo Merli, Chief Executive Officer -. The current international crisis context significantly increases the sense of urgency and our personal commitment to help reduce dependence on gas without forgetting the essential objectives of decarbonisation and the fight against climate change. ERG, with over 2.5GW of wind and solar installed capacity to date and a pipeline of new projects for over 3.5GW, is ready to make its contribution in this process. The goals we have set ourselves to increase installed capacity by 2.2GW by 2026 are challenging but at the same time solidbecause they are mostly guaranteed by projects under construction or in an advanced stage of development at a time of significant financial strength for the Group “.
The new Plan integrates the ESG plan aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, with which ERG has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming Net Zero by 2040, and reaffirms its strong commitment to the circular economy with the aim of recovering materials from the dismantling activities of all our plants, both wind and solar, subject to repowering. This environmental objective will be supported by projects for the social reuse of photovoltaic panels in good condition.