Enel, the largest solar panel factory in Europe will be built in Catania

Enel

By 2024, Enel's 3Sun gigafactory in Catania will be the largest solar panel factory in Europe and will use an innovative technology that is unique in the world. These will be the effects of the Tango (Italian gigafactory) project, which will require a total investment of around 600 million euros.

It is one of the seven initiatives selected by the European Commission in the context of the first tender of the dedicated Innovation Fund to major projects, the program had already obtained funding for up to 118 million. Other funds, up to a maximum of 188 million, could be dedicated to the project due to its candidacy for the call for access to Pnrr funds, relating in particular to the mission of the green revolution and ecological transition.

Steps

Due to the 3Sun gigafactory plan, the current Enel green power plant (Enel group) will go from the current capacity of 200 megawatt hours to around 3 gigawatts per year, initially developing photovoltaic modules based on a silicon “heterojunction” technology. By combining two different technologies in a single cell, they are characterized by better performance than conventional technologies.

In a second phase, an innovative technology called Tandem will then be implemented, which will make it possible to far exceed the state of the state of the art of photovoltaic cells in terms of efficiency, reaching over 30% and at the same time improving the reliability of the panels.

The expansion works envisaged by the project started in April 2022 and should be completed by 2024, through two steps. The first will bring the factory's capacity to 400 operating megawatts by September 2023; the second instead envisages full operational capacity starting from July 2024 . On the other hand, the works to produce the photovoltaic modules in tandem configuration will begin at the end of 2025.

New jobs

The evolution of the plant will also bring benefits in terms of employment, creating new jobs. In fact, during the visit carried out on the gigafactory site by representatives of Enel and the institutions, the immediate opening of selections for the hiring of 550 graduates was announced, who will go on to cover technical-operational positions within the factory in areas such as production, maintenance, auxiliary services, product quality and plant operation.

Fifty graduates were already hired last year, who will soon be joined by another hundred. The factory, which already has 200 workers, will therefore come to employ around 900 employees, reaching a total of one thousand indirect jobs by 2024.

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The declarations

“ The estimates on the growth of renewables for the next few years - underlined the managing director and general manager of Enel Francesco Starace - clearly state that for Italy and Europe it is strategic to invest in order to give life to an internal production chain, combining the needs of energy security and independence with those of the economy, work and the environment".

" The strong political significance of this investment - added the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin - is its function of liberating our country from abroad, and in particular from China, also on the front of the production of plants for the 'renewable energy. An independence that passes through quality and innovation, through the ability to produce better, more performing, more durable, easier to dispose of and recycle elements ".

The gigafactory in Cernusco sul Naviglio

The investment announced by Industrie De Nora, an Italian multinational specialized in electrochemistry, which in synergy with Snam has acquired an abandoned industrial area goes in the same direction in Cernusco sul Naviglio, in the Milan area, for the realization of the Italian Gigafactory project.

The program of the two companies envisages the creation of a large-scale production pole with a capacity of up to 2 gigawatts for the production of electrolysers for the generation of green hydrogen, systems and components for water electrolysis and fuel cells, as well as the creation of facilities serving the other divisions of the group.

The start of construction work on the gigafactory, which will occupy approximately 25,000 square meters, is expected in the second half of 2023 and is subject to the successful outcome of the authorization process which will be developed in the coming months.