Within the framework of the St. Petersburg international economic forum which is being held in St. Petersburg from June 17 till June 19, 2010, JSC RusHydro, has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the sphere of hydropower engineering with Italian company Enel.

In accordance with the Memorandum, in particular, it is assumed to review the opportunities of cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources (which includes the opportunities in the field of implementation of tidal and geothermal power projects), retail, including installation and automation of metering systems, and also exchange of experience pertaining to innovations, research efforts and technologies.

The working group creation is planned for the purpose of implementation of the initiatives specified in the Memorandum, the primary goal of which will be accumulation of proposals for cooperation, and also provision of information about them to the management of the parties.

The Memorandum of Cooperation with Enel is signed within the framework of one of priority areas of activity of JSC RusHydro, — development of renewable energy sources. Today RusHydro acts as a leader of infrastructure projects in the field of hydro power engineering and use of renewable energy sources (RES) in Russia and actively supports establishment of legislative and regulatory basis. RusHydro pays special attention to introduction of best international practice.

Evgeniy Dod, Chairman of the Management Board of JSC RusHydro, mentioned that signing the Memorandum with Enel became an important step of implementation of one of the key directions of the new strategy of the Russian hydropower generating company aimed at the dynamic entry of RusHydro into the international electric power market. According to the Head of the Russian company, cooperation with Enel considerably extends the opportunities of RusHydro in this area and opens up new opportunities for both companies.

In turn, Carlo Tamburi, Director of the International Division of Enel, has emphasized: «Making agreement with RusHydro, the largest Russian energy provider, extends opportunities of cooperation of Russia and Italy in the field of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. It is in line with Enel’s strategy stipulating enhancement of presence in Russia, and extends it to new areas in which Enel Group takes the lead worldwide and which become strategic priorities for Russia now. We are happy to introduce our experience and knowledge in creation of a joint working group for the purpose of identification and development of joint projects».

Enel is the second largest energy provider in Europe, it participates in the whole chain of power production: power generation, transportation and sales; and also owns 100 % of ENEL Green Power, active in the field of renewable energy sources and disposing of more than 5,700 MW capacity of renewable energy sources.