Strategic plan

Short-term global uncertainties have forced power companies to increase flexibility and improve visibility of returns. In the medium and long term, grids will have to be able to cope with increased electricity demand as electrification expands, and the growing proportion of renewables in the energy mix (including through distributed generation). Furthermore, the expected growth in renewables capacity will require battery storage in order to balance supply and demand.

In this scenario, the Group plans to allocate its investments efficiently. Regulated businesses will be at the center of the Group’s strategy, seeking to improve quality and resilience and integrating new renewables capacity, with the support of advantageous regulatory frameworks. Investment decisions in renewables will be more selective, aiming for a positioning that maximizes returns and mitigates risks, also leveraging Partnership business models. Finally, the Group plans to optimize its customer portfolio and end-to-end processes, increasing efficiency in customer acquisition and management, improving customer loyalty through bundled offers and promoting the electrification of consumption. Generation and retail will be managed together in a flexible approach to the sourcing strategy, with the aim of improving profitability.

The Group’s 2024-2026 Strategic Plan is founded on three pillars:

• profitability, flexibility and resilience through highly selective capital allocation, aimed at optimizing the Group’s risk/return profile;
• efficiency and effectiveness as drivers of the Group’s operations, based on process simplification, leaner organization with defined responsibilities and a focus on core geographies, as well as the rationalization of costs in order to maximize cash generation and offset inflationary pressures and the higher cost of capital;
• financial and environmental sustainability to pursue value creation in addressing the challenges of climate change.

Between 2024 and 2026, the Group has planned total gross investments of about €35.8 billion. Given the current scenario, to implement a business model with less capital and risk intensity, the Group plans to:

• increase the focus on grids, in order to benefit from favorable regulatory environments and at the same time gain access to European financing, which is expected to contribute some €3.5 billion to the Group’s total gross investments;
• create partnerships for renewables projects in order to flexibly invest financial resources in a total amount of around €6.1 billion.

As a result, investments are expected to require less cash for the Group, with expected net investments of about €26.2 billion.

The Group confirms that it intends to focus its investments in six core countries, above all where it can leverage an integrated position: specifically Italy, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the United States.

Grids – Between 2024 and 2026 the Group has planned gross investments of about €18.6 billion in Grids, of which about €15.2 billion net of grants. The allocation of capital in grids is adapted in accordance with the planned returns in each country, with a concentration of investment in geographical areas characterized by a more balanced and clearer regulatory framework, notably in Italy where the Group plans to allocate about €12.2 billion in gross investments. Thanks to this capital allocation, ordinary EBITDA connected with Grids is expected to reach about €8.4 billion in 2026.

Integrated Businesses – The Group aims to increase margins in the Integrated Businesses by reducing provisioning costs.

In Renewables, the Group has planned gross investments of around €12.1 billion between 2024 and 2026. Specifically, the Group plans to invest in onshore wind, solar and battery storage. A key factor will be innovation, using repowering to increase the efficiency of plants and reduce generation costs, as well as storage batteries to enhance the flexibility of the electricity system and load management.

Furthermore, regarding the decarbonization process, the Plan envisages gradually eliminating investments in new carbon-intensive assets until their complete elimination in 2025. In particular, the Group expects to invest less than 3% of gross 2024-2026 investment in thermal generation, most of which will be dedicated to maintenance of existing plants, while investment in the development of new plants will be substantially limited to the conversion from coal to CCGT of the Fusina power plant, which is expected to be completed by 2024.

More than 90% of the Group’s total investment in 2024-2026 is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and directly work towards SDGs 7 (“Affordable and Clean Energy”), 9 (“Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”) and 11 (“Sustainable Cities and Communities”), all of which help to achieve SDG 13 (“Climate Action”). The alignment of investments stated in the Group’s Strategic Plan with the objectives of decarbonization and the reduction of greenhouse gases is based on a specific approach by which investment in renewables and retail power, by their nature, fall under SDG 7, investment in distribution networks fall under SDG 9, and investments by Enel X concern SDG 11. Of the above, more than 90% thereby excludes investment in conventional power generation (including maintenance) and in retail gas.

Furthermore, we expect that more than 80% of all Group investment will continue to be in line with the EU taxonomy over the period covered by the Plan, given their substantial contribution to mitigating climate change.

Between 2024 and 2026, this new approach is expected to enable the Group to build approximately 13.4 GW of new renewables capacity across all the geographical areas in which it operates. In 2026, the Group’s renewables capacity is expected to increase to approximately 73 GW, from about 62 GW in 2023, with the share of zero-emission generation reaching around 86%, compared with 75% in 2023 (including managed capacity).

In the Customer segment, the Group has planned gross investments of about €3 billion between 2024 and 2026. The main driver of the Group strategy in this segment will be the strengthening of customer centricity thanks to a single touchpoint for business-to-consumer (B2C) customers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), key accounts dedicated to the main business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) customers, as well as bundled offers. Thanks to these initiatives, the ordinary EBITDA of the Integrated Businesses is expected to reach around €15.5 billion in 2026, with renewables as the main growth factor over the Plan period.