France - Enel buys French wind energy company Erelis for 14.2 Million Euro

Italian power company Enel SpA (EN) said Thursday it has finalized Thursday the acquisition of French wind energy company Erelis SAS for 14.2 million Euro. According to a company's statement, the deal involves 100% of the shares of Erelis and "enable Enel to become a significant player in the French wind market" from 2007 to 2010.

In May, Enel decided to increase its spending on renewable energy plants to 2.4 billion Euro through 2010, up from the 1.7 billion Euro forecast in the previous plan through 2009. Slightly more than half will be invested in renewable plants in Italy, with the rest going to projects abroad. In June, the company opened its biggest wind energy park in Sardinia and announced it plans to boost its domestic wind energy capacity to 574 mega watts by 2010 with a 200 million Euro investment.