Changing of the guard at Enel

Flavio Cattaneo, currently Executive VP of the Italian high-speed train operator Italo, has been appointed as the next chief executive of global energy giant Enel.

He will succeed Francesco Starace, who has held the position since 2014 but has reportedly not found favour with the current administration under recently elected prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

According to sources within the company, this did not come as a surprise, because Starace is currently at the end of his third term at the helm of the Italian DSO. Serving a fourth term would be highly unusual, regardless of politics.

Reuters reports that under Starace, the company has seen a significant increase in debt, which has attracted concern.

While sales of assets in Argentina, Peru and Romania are under way – most recently an agreement has been concluded for the sale of distribution company Enel Distribución Perú and Enel X Perú to China Southern Power Grid International – several shareholders are reported to have signalled not wanting a major reduction in the group’s international footprint in favour of the domestic market.

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Other changes are the appointment of Paolo Scaroni, a former CEO of both Enel and Eni, as new chairman for Enel, while Claudio Descalzi, CEO of the Italian petroleum company Eni, was confirmed in the position for a fourth term.

A confirmation of the nomination of Giuseppina Di Foggia, currently CEO of Nokia Italy, as the new CEO of the TSO Terna is also expected at next month’s shareholder’s meeting. She would replace the current head Stefano Donnarumma.

Commenting on the appointments, Prime Minister Meloni said they are the result of a careful assessment of skills and not of affiliations.

“I thank those who have served Italy with passion in these companies, I wish the next administrators good work. Their task is to obtain solid and lasting economic results in the interest of the nation they represent throughout the world.”

Enel 2022

Some notable happenings under Starace were the formations of Enel X and more recently Gridspertise bringing the company’s expertise and product developments to a wider market with the creation of new business opportunities.

This change of the top management at Enel follows the recent presentation of the 2022 results, with Starace indicating that the financial results hit the guidance, the operating evolution was in line with strategic guidelines and the final phase of repositioning is well advanced.

Among the results reported were ongoing increases in renewable energy capacity (66% up from 59% in 2021) public electric vehicle charge points (21.6 million from 19.1 million) and smart meters (to 45.8 million) and reduction in SAIDI (231 minutes down from 243 minutes)

Of the 45.8 million smart meters, 25.2 million (55%) were second-generation meters.