Author: adigiuseppe

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.

Milan, 30 December 2020 –  Italgas started the process of digital transformation of its water grids, which are currently under concession, with the aim of improving operational efficiency and service quality by leveraging the expertise developed in the management of gas networks.

The initiative is part of the 2020-2026 Strategic Plan recently approved by the BoDs. The plan allocated, among others, 120 million euro to new investments in order to support the Group’s growth in the water sector while improving the quality of the service provided to the citizens.

The digital transformation programme concerns five water networks licensed to the Group in Caserta and in other four municipalities (Casaluce, Galluccio, Roccaromana, Baia-e-Latina), which together distribute 8 million cubic meters of water to around 30,000 customers through 270 km of network.

The programme relies on two pillars:

• the partnership agreement signed with the Israeli company TaKaDu, a global leader in the development of digital Central Event Management for water networks, already active in 13 countries;

• the introduction of the latest-generation smart meter, based on ultrasonic technology, with a plan to replace all traditional meters by 2021.

The completion of the programme, which also involves the application of IoT sensor technology along the city networks, will allow to keep under control, at all times, infrastructures’ operating parameters, quickly detect any failures with increased accuracy, and rapidly react in case of leaks.

In Italy, according to Istat, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, water networks have an average loss of 40% in terms of volume of water distributed. To facilitate the process of renewal of those networks, the results achieved on Italgas water grids by Italgas-TaKaDu partnership will be made available to the Italian water utilities, through a dedicated service offer to improve the efficiency and quality of the service and, above all, to reduce network losses.

Milan, 8 December 2020 – For the fourth consecutive year Italgas has been recognised by CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) for its efforts in the fight against climate change, through the confirmation of the “B” score for Climate Change. This score ranks Italgas in the “Management band”, above the European average – equal to “C” – and at the same level as the Energy Utilities Network sector.

Among other elements, CDP acknowledged the important work carried out by the Company, which compared to last year has significantly improved the score assigned to the “Scope 1&2 emissions” and “Emission reduction initiatives” categories.

Italgas is a leader in Italy in the gas distribution sector and third in Europe, it is present in over 1860 Italian municipalities with a historical presence in the major cities of Rome, Turin, Venice, Florence and Naples.

CDP is a non-profit organisation that assesses its performance in the field of climate change every year. This year more than 9,600 companies worldwide answered its questionnaires.

Milan, 9 December 2020 – Italgas has obtained for the third consecutive year the UNI ISO 37001:2016 anti-corruption certification, achieving its extension also to the “anti-corruption government” of all Group companies, as well as the subsidiary Italgas Reti, which had already achieved it last year.

As confirmation of  their commitment to legal compliance, in 2020 Toscana Energia, Medea, Italgas Acqua, Gaxa, Seaside, Umbria Distribuzione and Metano Sant’Angelo Lodigiano also introduced a system for preventing and combating corruption, adopted on a voluntary basis and certified in accordance with the internationally recognised standard.

The management system for prevention and combating has been verified by the independent certification body DNV GL Business Assurance, after in-depth analysis that have confirmed its adequacy and compliance with the required requirements, as well as its effective implementation.

 

“Legality, transparency, corporate responsibility, integrity – commented Italgas CEO, Paolo Gallo – are just some of the values that make up the polar star of our daily actions. That’s why I consider the achievement of anti-corruption certification for the third consecutive year and its extension to all Group companies to be significant results that are at the same time coherent with the activities that we carry out every day along our network, serving 7,7 million customers all over the country“.

Il Gruppo Italgas lancia «Savegas»: riqualificazione energetica chiavi in mano e accesso al “Superbonus” promuovendo la rete di professionisti e imprese locali

Milano, 23 novembre 2020 – Diventare uno dei principali player nel mercato italiano dell’efficienza energetica facendo leva sulle competenze delle due ESCo del Gruppo: Seaside, più orientata al settore privato e ai servizi digitali, e Toscana Energia Green, orientata al settore pubblico e alla riqualificazione edilizia.

È l’obiettivo del Gruppo Italgas che nel Piano Strategico 2020-2026, di recente presentazione, ha destinato 100 milioni di euro allo sviluppo delle attività del settore e al consolidamento di un mercato ancora molto frammentato.

Il primo passo del rafforzamento delle sinergie tra le due ESCo ha portato alla creazione di «Savegas», un servizio che offre interventi di efficientamento energetico degli immobili con la formula “chiavi in mano” funzionali a:

• ridurre i costi in bolletta fino al 30%;
• aumentare il valore patrimoniale degli immobili (attraverso il raggiungimento di due classi energetiche superiori o di quella più alta possibile);
• accedere facilmente ai benefici fiscali del “Superbonus”.

«Savegas» è stato concepito, infatti, per offrire un supporto completo e innovativo attraverso un modello di business che consente di ottimizzare i tempi e i costi di realizzazione degli interventi, nonché di sollevare il cliente da incombenze e responsabilità tecniche e giuridiche. In qualità di General Contractor, infatti, Seaside e Toscana Energia Green si propongono come interlocutore unico per la gestione dell’intera attività per tutta la durata dei lavori: dallo studio di fattibilità alla realizzazione degli interventi, fino alla gestione delle pratiche amministrative e delle comunicazioni per l’ottenimento dei benefici fiscali.

Un complesso di attività per la cui realizzazione il Gruppo Italgas coinvolgerà la rete dei liberi professionisti e delle piccole e medie imprese che operano su tutto il territorio nazionale, selezionandoli tra i più qualificati e idonei, accettando progetti proposti dalle stesse aziende del territorio realizzando in tal modo importanti ricadute per le comunità a cui appartengono, in un mercato previsto in forte sviluppo e con elevate potenzialità.

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Milan, 16 November 2020 – Italgas has confirmed its position as one of the world’s top sustainability leaders thanks to the inclusion, for the second consecutive year, in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, the index managed by S&P Global which includes companies that have excelled globally on sustainability issues.

This result is even more important in consideration of the growing number of companies that aspire to be admitted or confirmed in the index and the increasingly stringent analysis criteria adopted to identify the best performers in terms of sustainability.

Especially, Italgas has been recognised for the progress achieved in Supply Chain Management and Environmental Reporting. This recognition rewards the company’s ability to develop increasingly accurate and transparent reporting, also thanks to the use of innovative technologies and methodologies.

The inclusion confirms Italgas’ ever-increasing focus on sustainability as an integral part of daily action and growth strategy, as well as a further source of value creation for all stakeholders.