OREANDA-NEWS. in Mexico City, Fulvio Conti CEO of Enel and Jose Luis Fernandez Zayas, Executive Director of the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, the Mexican electricity research body, signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at cooperation in geothermal generation as well as smart grids.

The signing ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace on the presence of Italy's Prime Minister Mr Enrico Letta and Mexican President Mr Enrique Pena Nieto within the framework of the two governments bilateral meeting.

Through this agreement the Italian company and its counterpart will cooperate to exchange information and experiences in the smart grids and geothermal generation by means of pilot projects, training programmes and technology transfers in the respective areas of interests.

“We are very pleased with this agreement “ - commented Fulvio Conti at the sidelines of the ceremony “through which we can share with the Mexican government our undisputed know-how in these two areas. Enel has over a century of experience in the geothermal industry and is running projects with this clean resource in many countries. With regards to smart grids, we were the first company in the world to install large scale deployment of smart metering system and today, thanks to our leadership, Enel is the leading coordinator of the EU Address project seeking at solutions to integrate energy customer demand”.

The Mexican government aims at implementing smart grids projects in the country to improve efficiency and the quality of the service. Alongside diversification in power generation is key to strengthen the security of the supply by means of increasing the contribution of renewables to the country's fuel mix.

At the same event Mr Conti was also leading the Italian business delegation of the Business Council of Italy and Mexico which also met today on the presence of Italy's PM Enrico Letta. The council was established in 2012 with the aim of gathering major Italian and Mexican companies and set a forum for discussions with the two respective governments on how to implement and strengthen business and commercial bilateral relations.

Enel operates in Mexico through its subsidiary Enel Green Power which entered the country in 2007 through the acquisition of three hydro plants for an installed capacity of 53MW. In 2012 the company started operations for two wind farms in the state of Oaxaca for a total installed capacity of 144 MW followed, in 2013, by the construction of two additional wind farms in the same area for a total capacity of 202 MW.

So far Enel Green Power investments in Mexico amount to around 800 million USD.

In Latin America, the Enel Group, operating through Endesa and its subsidiaries in five countries, is the largest private-sector operator, with approximately 16 GW of installed capacity and serving some 14 million customers. Over more, it should be added the presence of Enel Green Power, which runs renewable energy plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Chile and Brazil for a total installed capacity of 1,080 MW as of today. Thanks to this presence, the Group can be considered as one of the renewable sector's leaders in the Continent.