Italy's Lombardy will award two hydroelectric plant contracts by 2025

The local administration announced on Wednesday that the northern Italian region of Lombardy would award concessions to two small hydroelectric plants within its territory before the end of the next year.

According to the region, the auction has attracted mostly Italian bidders. This could allow newcomers access to the capital-intensive industry.

Five Italian bidders including ACEA Produzione, Ascopiave Group and the Italian subsidiary BkW Hydro, submitted bids to purchase a 4 Megawatt (MW), currently operated by A2A.

Four Italian groups including ACEA Produzione, the current Edison operator, and Slovenske Elektrarne, from Slovakia, are competing for a 19 MW plant near Sondrio.

Massimo Sertori, Lombardy Regional councillor for Energy Resources told the media earlier this month that "there will be an evaluation of the project and it will take months to reach a conclusion."

Lombardy is responsible for 25 percent of Italy's total hydroelectric generation. There are 70 plants in the Lombardy region that have been granted concessions.

The contracts for Enel's plants are set to expire by 2029. Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Alessandro Parodi, Michela Stasio and Keith Weir.

(source: Reuters)