Enel to invest EUR 200 million in digitalisation in Romania

Italian energy company Enel announced plans to invest EUR 200 million in network and equipment digitalisation in Romania, for the 2017-2019 period, according to the newly unveiled business strategy.

As a part of a wide corporate changes, Enel Group announced it will invest as much as EUR 4.7 billion in digitalisation of its asset base, operations and processes, and to enhance connectivity, across its operations in 30 countries around the world. The group promised to enhance customer operations, citing 60 million of its end-users as Enel’s most important asset.

“In today’s update to the strategy, we are adding digitisation and customer focus as levers to drive further value creation across our strategic pillars,” said Francesco Starace, Enel Group chief executive officer.

The Romanian branch of the company produces over 500 megawatt (MW) of electricity in the country annually. Enel intends to implement smart meters for some 1.3 million electric power consumers in Romania by 2019. So far, Enel has installed 140,000 smart meters in the regions of Banat, Dobrogea and Muntenia Sud (including capital Bucharest), following its plans announced earlier this year.

“The investment will help us reach higher efficiency, and keep the pace with technology. We will use the latest technology,” added Francesco Starace.

Enel has been operating in the Romanian market since 2005, and is currently serving a total of 2.8 million consumers, covering roughly a third of the distribution market.