Italian Oil Giant ENI Begins Work on Solar Plants in Tunisia, Pakistan

Italian oil and gas giant Eni has announced the building of new solar energy plants in Tunisia and Pakistan as a part of its commitment to switching from fossil fuels to renewables and to promoting global sustainable development, the company said in a statement on Mar 12.

Tunisia

The Tunisia plant will be built at the ADAM oil concession in the southern Tataouine governorate, which is operated by Eni, there Eni has a 25 percent stake, through its subsidiary Eni Tunisia BV, according to the company.

The ADAM photovoltaic project has a peak capacity of 5MW. The energy produced will be used on-site, reducing gas consumption and saving around 6,500 tonnes/year of CO2 equivalent emissions, the statement added.

The solar plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 and is part of the cooperation agreement with the State Company ETAP, which seeks the advancement of renewable energy projects in Tunisia.

Pakistan

On the other hand, the Pakistan plant will be built close to the Bhit gas field in southern Sindh province, which Eni operates and holds a 40 per cent stake in through its subsidiary Eni New Energy Pakistan.

The Bhit plant is due to be completed by October, will have a 10MW peak capacity. The plant is expected to generate around 20GWh (Gigawatt hours) annually. The energy produced will be used on site, reducing gas consumption and saving some 140,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions in the next 10 years.

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Eni aims to integrate the new solar plant with an existing power generating facility, allowing the shutdown of one the existing gas turbines and cutting running costs once the solar plant is operational, the statement further explains.

The new plants in Tunisia and Pakistan will support Eni’s upstream operations by providing green energy with an off-grid setup.

Three weeks earlier, Eni had begun work on a 31 MW solar project in Italy. ENI is considered one of the global supermajors, it has operations in 79 countries, and is currently world’s 11th largest industrial company. Eni entered the renewable energy business in 2015 after creating an Energy Solutions department. Since then, the company has sought to expand its solar business in Algeria and Ghana, where it has oil and gas operations.