The CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, a state railway in Italy, stated in a newspaper interview that the company intends to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic facility with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity, which would supply 19% of its energy demands by 2029.

The CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, a state railway in Italy, stated in a newspaper interview that the company intends to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic facility with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity, which would supply 19% of its energy demands by 2029.

The initiative may attract attention from financial or industrial entities that create and manage such plants, Chief Executive Stefano Donnarumma told Il Sole 24 Ore on Sunday.

“We are not interested in running them. But we could sign contracts to use them for a set period, or we could also buy existing plants, maybe with a partner,” he said.

When asked if there were any connections with possible co-investors, Donnarumma replied that although the project needed to be improved, talks with banks to obtain funding had begun.

Donnarumma stated that as energy is not Ferrovie’s primary industry, a likely solution would be to establish a specific corporate entity to execute the investment, in which case possible partners may purchase a share.

By 2034, he predicted, the project’s installed capacity would have doubled to 2.2 GW, meeting 35–40% of Ferrovie’s energy requirements.