Letter to stakeholders
We are pleased to present our Sustainability Report, which describes the environmental, social, and economic performance of Enel Américas during 2021. The Report describes Enel Américas' results in accordance with its mission, purpose, and strategic plan, and it is directed towards shareholders, employees, suppliers, and all of the company's stakeholders.
For Latin America, the area in which our operations are concentrated, it was a challenging year. In spite of the region's economic recovery, there are still social and economic impacts that make a sustainable and inclusive approach even more necessary. At the same time, the region has not been spared from the climate crisis, which, given its vast geography, affects it in various ways. The region intends to take urgent action to align economies with the global objective of keeping temperatures below 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels.
Limiting temperatures means decarbonizing the planet, and electricity is presented as the cleanest, most efficient, safest, and most competitive energy alternative for doing so, especially considering the volatile prices of fossil fuels such as gas and coal. Aligned with these global objectives, our climate action consists of increased renewable generation and the electrification of energy consumption in Latin American metropolises, two actions that will reduce CO2 emissions in the cities and countries where we operate.
With this purpose, we finalized the merger with Enel Green Power Américas in 2021, positioning ourselves as a regional leader in renewable energy generation and also extending our operations to Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. As a result, we added 4.7 GW of renewable capacity, totaling 10.9 GW as of December 2021, equivalent to nearly 70% of our total capacity.
We also added a pipeline of projects for over 50 GW, of which 2.7 GW are already under construction, ensuring our growth and consolidation in the region.
Being present throughout the value chain and in the main capitals of Latin America offers us countless opportunities, especially if we look for ways to provide an integrated, reliable, safe, and customer-centric service.
As a starting point, we are permanently committed to improving our distribution network and making it smarter to serve the new needs of cities and citizens, for which we are incorporating digital solutions and cutting-edge technologies. This is the goal of projects such as Grid Blue Sky and Grid Futurability, which will allow flexibility for decentralization and greater interaction with our customers.
Decarbonization and smart distribution infrastructure must be integrated with a service offering that allows customers to electrify energy consumption that is currently supplied by fossil fuels. That is why we are investing in electromobility with the proliferation of charging infrastructure for electric transport.
Moving towards smart and circular cities entails coordinating with different institutions and market players. We are permanently dedicated to this, as it is the key to moving towards decarbonized, electrified, and digitalized economies, or in other words, towards Net Zero. In the countries of the region where we operate, Enel X acts in accordance with this business model, which links the company's objectives to those of the countries, for example, bringing electric mobility to several of the region's cities for the first time.
We believe that ensuring social inclusion is essential for the energy transition to be a successful process. For this reason, our work with local communities prioritizes the objectives of access to clean and affordable energy, economic development and decent work, and quality education, collaborating with energy penetration for the sustainable growth of the countries.
People are our true competitive factor, sharing a spirit of cohesiveness internally and externally, which is guided by the Company's values and enables our daily commitment to trust, responsibility, innovation, and proactivity. We permanently incentivize talent through internal promotion and the development of capabilities in different roles, fostering horizontal leadership in diverse and inclusive work environments where motivation and commitment are distinctive elements to advance our common purpose. Additionally, we provide our contractors and suppliers with the opportunity to contribute to our climate action objectives through goals that aim to reduce emissions and create social value, thus achieving an even more sustainable value chain.
Achieving all this progress in a challenging context and with the goal of sustainable growth has only been possible thanks to the dedication and ongoing commitment of our employees, investors, and customers, who have made Enel Américas the leading private energy company in Latin America.
We continue to look ahead as we move towards a more sustainable world with cleaner energy
Francisco de Borja Acha Maurizio Bezzeccheri
Chairman of the Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer
For more information, refer to the Enel Americas 2021 Sustainability Report