Enel Takes On Shell in Bid to Sell Australia Green Electricity

(Bloomberg) -- Enel SpA became the latest European energy giant to announce plans to expand its renewable electricity sales in Australia. 

The Rome-based company will launch a “greentailer” offering as much as 100% renewable power to help customers meet sustainability objectives after it is issued a retail license this week by the Australian Energy Regulator, Enel said in a statement. It will initially target commercial and industrial users but plans to expand to residential users. 

The move comes less than a month after Royal Dutch Shell Plc bought one of Australia’s largest household providers of renewable power, which led some customers to say they would switch rather than buy from a major oil company. Enel may face a better reception as it is one of Europe’s top renewables producers. The company, which plans to exit coal by 2027 and gas by 2040, has 55 gigawatts of renewables in its 90-gigawatt global portfolio.

In Australia the company has 310 megawatts of capacity in three solar plants, and says it operates the nation’s largest virtual power plant with 350 megawatts under management. It will approach commercial and industrial customers this month, it said. 

“Enel is a one stop shop ‘greentailer’ delivering energy from Australia’s abundant renewable resources for the country’s clean energy future,” Enel Green Power Australia Country Manager Werther Esposito said in the statement. 

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