Enel is seeking to increase its market presence in Russia’s energy industry through a new memorandum of intent with Inter RAO UES, signed at a recent Italy-Russia summit in Moscow.
The Italian utility says that the new agreement will lead to co-operation between the two companies on various projects in the energy sectors of Russia and other countries. It sees the rapidly-growing Russian market as being of strategic importance to its expansion plans.
Enel and Inter RAO – which handles the import and export of electricity supplies in Russia – will form a joint team tasked with analysing potential projects, including the development of nuclear and conventional generation plants in Russia and other countries.
The agreement follows one signed recently between Enel and Gazprom for the development of gas fields in the Urengoy region of Russia. Enel already handles a number of operations in Russia, including a stake in RusEnergoSbyt, a joint venture with ESN, and a controlling stake in wholesale power generator OGK-5.
“Today’s agreements strengthen Enel’s position in the strategically important and fast growing Russian energy market, confirming the performance of our current partnerships with major players in this market,” said Enel CEO Fulvio Conti. “The agreement with Inter RAO UES lays the foundations for joint industrial and commercial initiatives in Russia and neighbouring countries.”
Inter RAO and Enel will also exchange best practice in energy efficiency, focussing on a pilot project undertaken by Enel to deploy digital meters in Belgorod, analyse Russia’s liberalization process and share information on fuel provisioning in Russia and the Community of Independent States (CIS) in order to enhance security of supply.
Enel’s activities in Russia also include a memorandum of understanding with RosAtom, the federal atomic agency, to develop the electrical system in Russia and Central Eastern Europe, build new nuclear power plants, manage and reinforce the electrical energy transport networks and manage pre-existing nuclear power stations.
