LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - By 2021, Enel had the world at its feet. Thanks to early bets on wind and solar by Francesco Starace, CEO since 2014, the Italian utility was worth $105 billion and seemed on track to become one of the winners of the energy transition.

Two years later, Starace has been replaced by the government, which controls 24 percent of Enel, the group's net debt has risen due to problems with the energy crisis, and the value has fallen to $65 billion.

It is possible, however, that the drop Enel is having in the stock market, where the group fell as much as 4 percent today, is an overreaction.

Enel remains the world's largest private renewable energy operator, and its target of 75 gigawatts of green energy capacity by 2025 is far higher than the stated goals of the latest entrants to the green energy table such as BP.

And although Starace has been replaced by Flavio Cattaneo, currently leading Italo-NTV, with former Eni Ad Paolo Scaroni as chairman, these are two experienced executives who are likely to pursue a plan to reduce debt through the sale of non-strategic assets.

However, Enel may still face a crossroads. If Giorgia Meloni really intends to turn Italy into a gas hub, the country's largest utility could focus more on that goal than on competing with other green stars such as Spain's Iberdrola for renewables projects around the world. Given Scaroni's background, it might even seem like a good idea to combine Enel and Eni to create a domestically focused giant rather than global zero-emissions star. This could make Enel less attractive to international investors than in the past.

(George Hay and Pamela Barbaglia, translated by Luca Fratangelo, editing Stefano Bernabei)