Italian energy giant Enel has launched a series of renewable energy initiatives in Spain with a €850 million investment programme.

Enel Union Fenosa Renovables (EUFR), a joint venture between Enel and Spain’s Union Fenosa, is planning to develop wind, solar thermal, and biomass facilities with a capacity of up to 650 MW in the Estremadura region of Spain.

Individual projects will be carried out on the basis of specific agreements to be signed in June, Enel said in a statement.

The move follows the recent transfer of a 30% stake in EUFR to Union Fenosa which exercised an option on the stake bringing its holding up to 50%.

As specified in a 2003 agreement, Fenosa paid Enel €66 million for the additional stake plus interest o f€5.8 million euro, bringing the total value of the transaction to €71.8 million.

The company has reached a total installed capacity of 900 MW with an output of 2,600 GWh as of December 2005. Plans call for EUFER’s installed capacity to rise to 1,600 MW by the end of 2010.

In related news, Enel has won a tender to acquire 67.5% of Electrica Muntenia Sud, which distributes power to more than 1.1 million customers in the region of Bucharest in Romania.

Enel offered €820 million for the stake, closure is expected to take place in the next few weeks.