Author: adigiuseppe

Activation began in Ussana and will end on February 17th in Villaperuccio. It involves over 6,500 potential customers in basins 26, 27, 35 and 37 adjacent to basin 38 in the regional capital.

Cagliari, 11 February 2021 – In the last few days, work has begun on the commissioning of a further 130 kilometres of native digital networks serving eight municipalities in southern Sardinia, included in basins 26, 27, 35 and 37 adjacent to basin 38 in Cagliari, which is also under concession to the Italgas Group.

These include the towns of Ussana, Nuraminis, San Sperate (basin 37), Serrenti, Sanluri (basin 27), Barrali (basin 26), Masainas and Villaperuccio (basin 35) which, by February 17th, will be reached by natural gas. Here, as in the other basins under concession, Medea (Italgas Group) has built new distribution networks equipped with integrated sensors for remote control, as well as preparation for optical fibres.

The networks will initially be supplied by tank wagons, while waiting the installation of the already planned cryogenic LNG (liquefied natural gas) deposits, which will guarantee continuity of service and maximum flexibility in the provision of methane.

In the eight municipalities, with a total of approximately 32,000 inhabitants, the company has already carried out approximately 5,800 pre-settings and collected 6,500 expressions of interest in connecting to the network. The start of distribution activities was also promptly communicated to the Sales Companies so that they could proceed to sign the supply contracts.

Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas, commented: “Sardinia is the main hub for a new generation of infrastructure set to change the gas distribution paradigm in Italy and Europe and enhance significantly the energy transition. This network, the most advanced in the Country, will also be able to accommodate renewable gases such as biomethane, hydrogen and synthetic methane in the near future”.

Through Medea, a distribution company of the Group, Italgas is present in 17 of the 38 basins into which Sardinia is divided, including the main towns. On the island, Italgas began operating in 2017 through the acquisition of several operators and concessions. The works for the implementation of the new digital networks are at an advanced stage in all concession areas and the intervention has already contributed to the creation of more than 600 new jobs in the allied industries.

During a meeting with Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, the Association representatives reaffirmed the strategic role of gas grids as a driver for energy transition, as well as the importance of technological innovation in monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Brussels, 2 February 2021 – At their Annual General Assembly earlier today, GD4S, the Association comprising seven major operators in the gas distribution sector in Europe, confirmed Paolo Gallo (Italgas) for a second year as President of the Association.

“I am honoured to continue my journey at the helm of GD4S – comments Paolo Gallo – and I would like to thank the other members for their confidence in me. In spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic, GD4S had a very full agenda last year. During 2020, the Association was further strengthened, becoming the main representative of natural gas distributors in Europe. In the months ahead, GD4S will continue to promote the development and integration of renewable gases, such as hydrogen and biomethane, which are crucial to the energy transition. Thanks to their extensive reach in Europe, our networks are strategic and essential for the decarbonisation of the economy, especially in sectors like energy transport and storage. The Association also confirms its commitment to the control and mitigation of methane emissions through technological innovation and the digitalisation of the networks, key factors for improving the monitoring, measurement and mitigation of emissions“.

In advance of the Assembly, representatives of the Association met with Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet of the Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans. During the meeting, Paolo Gallo, Dan Pantilie, CEO of Distrigaz Sud Retele (Romania), Denis O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Gas Networks Ireland (Ireland), Narciso De Carreras, CEO of Nedgia (Spain), Catherine Leboul-Proust, Strategy Chief Officer of GRDF (France), Gabriel Sousa, CEO of Galp Gás Natural Distribuição (Portugal) and Leonidas Bakouras, General Manager of Eda Thess (Greece) highlighted the Association’s position on the strategic role of gas grids in the process of energy transition and decarbonisation of the EU, and confirmed the distribution operators’ commitment to mitigate methane emissions.

Diederik Samsom highlighted the importance of integrating energy sources and agreed on the long-term strategic role of gas networks in the process of European decarbonization. Gas infrastructures will be used to receive and distribute renewable gases such as hydrogen, biomethane and synthetic methane, even in 2050 when the energy transition is complete. At the same time, Samson reminded DSOs that controlling emissions and saving energy are key elements in supporting an effective path to sustainability.

GD4S is planning a number of important initiatives for 2021, including the development of a ‘Sustainability Charter’, to define the Association’s commitment to sustainability, and the publication of a White Paper, reporting GD4S’ positions on all relevant policy issues. The ‘Sustainability Charter’, will outline a roadmap with specific milestones for the fulfilment of GD4S members’ long-term sustainability goals, in line with what has been established by the EU for the achievement of a carbon neutral economy. The White Paper, due for imminent publication, provides a comprehensive overview of how gas grids can be strategically used to achieve EU and national decarbonisation commitments. Highlighing specific case studies to illustrate the actions taken by operators, it clearly demonstrates GD4S’ commitment to the European Green Deal.

In the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Association highlighted the importance of establishing common guidelines for network operators to measure methane emissions occurring on their infrastructure.

Milan, 28 January 2021 – Italgas stock has been confirmed for the fifth consecutive year in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which groups together the best companies worldwide standing out for their focus on sustainable economic development.

Specifically, FTSE Russell (the trading name of FTSE International Limited and Frank Russell Company) confirmed that “Italgas has been independently assessed according to the FTSE4Good criteria and has met the requirements as a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series”.

The current review has resulted in an assessment of Italgas’ sustainable performance that continues to improve, reaching a score of 4.2 out of a maximum of 5 points (previously it was 4.0).

This result testifies to Italgas’ focus on sustainable development based on the company’s leadership in interacting with the social context of reference, aimed at creating opportunities based on the shared value principle.

The FTSE4Good Index Series is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. Transparent management and clearly-defined ESG criteria make FTSE4Good indexes suitable tools to be used by a wide variety of market participants when creating or assessing sustainable investment products.

Cagliari, 21st Jan 2021 – CRS4, Research Centre of the Sardinian Technology Park, and Italgas, leading company in the distribution of natural gas in Italy and third in Europe, have signed a memorandum of understanding for the study and construction of a “Power To Gas” plant in Sardina. It will use electricity from renewable sources to produce renewable fuels such as green hydrogen and synthetic methane.

More specifically, the project consists in the construction of a renewable gas production plant to be located in Sardinia and connected to the new ‘digital native’ distribution networks built by Italgas. The plant will consist of a park for the self-production of electricity from renewable sources, an electrolyser to produce oxygen and hydrogen from water, and a methanation section for the transformation of hydrogen into synthetic natural gas. The aim of the project will be to test the production of gas from a renewable source and its potential use to provide hydrogen to sardinian industrial facilities and hydrogen and synthetic methane to household customers on the island, blending it with natural gas according to certain specifications. The plant could also use exceding renewable energy to produce gas to be stored in the same plant.

In the first stage of the project, CRS4, together with the Politecnico of Turin, conducted an analysis of the territory and of the different production activities in the area in order to define the scenario for the construction of the pilot plant. Subsequently, CRS4 will be involved in the infrastructure sizing and engineering phase, as well as during its operation for the measurements aimed at evaluating the production process in energy, technical and environmental terms.

Giacomo Cao, CRS4’s sole administrator, points out: “The project, in which the Centre is participating with researcher Alberto Varone of the HPC sector for energy and environment, fits into the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions strategy with a transversal approach. Several studies suggest that hydrogen could be the solution alongside renewable electricity in sectors that are complex to decarbonise, such as industry and heating, where is more difficult to use electricity.

Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas, comments: “The Italgas and CRS4 project reconciles the need to implement new and more efficient ways to store energy with the opportunity to produce renewable gases such as hydrogen and synthetic methane for the benefit of the Sardinian territory and its production activities, relying on the ‘native digital’ networks that we are building on the island. We are therefore glad to develop such an innovative project with the collaboration of a centre of excellence in Sardinia, where we have planned another 400 million euros of investment up to 2026.