Enel and Santander sign global deal to support clean energy transition

Enel and Santander have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) promoting collaboration between the two groups, aimed at supplying and financing solar facilities, lithium batteries and energy efficiency solutions for households, SMEs and corporations.

Under the MoU, Enel, through Enel X Global Retail, the Group’s advanced energy services business line, will design customized turnkey solutions for clients while Santander will provide them with tailored financing. The two leading groups will help accelerate the energy transition of clients towards more sustainable models by supporting them in the optimization of their energy consumption.

Alberto De Paoli, Enel Group CFO, said upon signing the agreement: “Through our partnership with a reputable financing institution such as Santander, we are taking yet another step towards the achievement of a Net Zero society. Sustainability as a business choice can only be pursued through innovation, which is at the core of this agreement.”

José M Linares, senior executive vice-president at Banco Santander and global head of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with a longtime partner such as Enel to further support our clients worldwide in their transition to more sustainable energy models. As pioneers in renewable energy finance, Santander CIB is committed to accelerating this transformation.”

Enel is already the world’s largest private green energy player with around 54 GW of installed renewable capacity worldwide and is planning to roughly treble that amount by 2030. By fully decommissioning its thermal fleet alongside exiting gas retail activities by 2040, the Group has a Net Zero commitment to that year both for direct and indirect emissions.

Santander aims to raise or facilitate 120 billion euros in green finance between 2019 and 2025 and 220 billion euros by 2030 as part of its responsible banking agenda and its support for its customers transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The bank is already carbon neutral in its own operations. To reach net-zero emissions for the whole group by 2050 in support of the Paris Agreement objectives and the transition to a low-carbon economy, Santander will align its power generation portfolio with the Paris Agreement by 2030.