Serving the energy future

With our investment plan and an increasingly digitalised grid, we are paving the way for the energy system of tomorrow, contributing to Europe’s ambitious decarbonisation process.

In the energy transition process, the gas infrastructure has to prepare for the future energy supply, ensuring flexibility in the energy system and distributing gas of renewable origin.
We are ready to lead Italy towards zero-carbon economy, as envisaged by the European Grean Deal 2050 targets.

Why it is important

Our Industrial Plan 2023-2029 outlines a clear vision of Italgas’ long-term role in the future of the energy system:
thanks to our technological transformation path, by 2022, we will be the first to have a digital infrastructure that will enable us to lead Europe towards full decarbonisation.

Our digital network is gradually preparing to accommodate renewable sources, such as biomethane, which is already available today, and green hydrogen, the use of which is estimated to be economically viable from 2030.

We have an extensive gas network, which enables us to operate a flexible and integrated renewable energy system thanks to Power-to-Gas.

We are fully digitising our infrastructure to receive and distribute alternative gases, such as biomethane and green hydrogen.

Objectives and ambitions

Our ambition is to lead the European energy transition by providing our ‘future’ distribution network, capable of accommodating renewable sources such as biomethane and hydrogen.

“By 2028 we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 34% and our energy consumption by 27% compared to 2020 figures*.

The company’s decarbonisation goals included in the Strategic Plan 2022-2028 are backed up by specific initiatives that are incorporated in the Startegic Plan approved by the Board annually and tested against relevant scenarios.

The various initiatives are developed also with the support of Geoside, the Group’s ESCo, and are aimed at energy efficiency of the Group’s assets in both the industrial and civil sectors, training activities for employees on energy efficiency issues, as well as the development of a predictive maintenance plan on gas networks, aiming to drastically reduce dispersion in the atmosphere. Italgas runs monthly Sustainability Business Reviews, in which a detailed assessment of the main environmental KPIs is carried out and the progress of related initiatives is discussed; this meeting is attended by the top management of each of the Group’s companies and the process owners and managers of the activities that have the main sustainability impacts.”

(*) Unchanged perimeter, i.e. excluding M&A, DEPA Infrastructure and tenders.

SDGs integrated into our actions

We strengthen our contribution towards achieving the specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that make up the United Nations 2030 Agenda. As part of our land and community development efforts, we contribute to achieving the following SDGs with concrete actions.

Our actions

We digitise the network to transport new gases. For us, this means a new generation of infrastructure with the technology to be controlled remotely, allowing us to constantly monitor it to know exactly what kind of gas is flowing through it and how efficient it is.

The investments we are making in our systems will allow us to feed into the grid, and then distribute, different types of gas, combining renewable sources and facilitating the path to a decarbonised economy. Without our commitment today, tomorrow’s energy system will not work.

Beyond natural gas: the renewable energy sources we will distribute with our network

With the aim of having a fully digitised infrastructure by 2022, we are committed to renewing and transforming Europe’s 2 million kilometres of network into carriers of biomethane and hydrogen.

Biomethane 2020-2030

Biomethane is already a mature and fast-growing reality. In Italy, for example, we are seeing a strong demand for new connections, while more than 20 injection points have already been connected to the transport and distribution network. It is estimated that by 2030 more than 10% of the country’s natural gas demand will be met by biomethane.

Green hydrogen 2030-2040

We expect this renewable source to become more widespread in the next decade, starting in 2030, when its cost will become more competitive and its use will be economically viable.

The future of gas

Are you also contributing to the energy transition? Your daily choices make a difference. Find out how to be part of the change by using renewable sources.

Our network for the energy transition

Our gas infrastructure plays a key role in the energy transition and is the enabler for the development and deployment of renewable gas. This is thanks to the potential of the network:

  • It is already available and safe.
  • It is capillary and wide.
  • Allows large amounts of energy to be distributed and stored.
  • Allows effective management of fluctuations in consumption demand throughout the year.

*Data up to 2022

79,406.1
kilometres
Distribution network in Italy and Greece
8,233.1
million cubic metres
Gas distributed
7.6
million
Smart meters installed, about 93% of our fleet.

In particular, with the increase of renewable sources, the strength of the grid is its flexibility. Incorporating renewables into an electricity system could lead to rigidity in the energy system, but the infrastructure already has a high storage capacity and is therefore able to provide the flexibility required for a transition to renewables.
This capacity also comes from Power-To-Gas (P2G) technology, which represents a solution for storing surplus renewable energy. Discover the potential of this solution and the hydrogen testing project in Sardinia

Contributing to Europe’s energy future with GD4S, the European Association for a Greener Europe

Together with leading natural gas distributors from France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Ireland, we are part of Gas Distributors for Sustainability – GD4S.

GD4S brings together seven of the largest natural gas distributors in Europe, serving around 28 million customers, corresponding to 30% of the European gas market. The Brussels-based association is committed to decarbonising Europe’s energy system by 2050 and unlocking the potential of renewable gases and gas networks.
Already since 2020 our CEO, Paolo Gallo, has been President of the Association and in 2021 he has been confirmed to lead GD4S for the second consecutive year. This allows us to be an active part of the European dialogue and to lead the sector towards a sustainable future by sharing our experience and expertise.
Working in a harmonious manner, we aim to represent the views of the gas distribution sector to the European institutions, with specific regard to the role that these infrastructures can play in the process of energy transition towards a low-carbon economy.

Our objectives

We support gas and LNG as a fuel for the energy sector transport.

Encouraging the development of biomethane.

We affirm the role of the gas network and P2G technologies to renewable energy production.

We promote the concrete value of the sustainable gas network, with concrete impacts on multiple sectors such as transport, heating & cooling.

Efficiency and the environment

We develop a network that facilitates the country’s decarbonisation and energy evolution process. Thanks to our responsible approach, combined with our digital and innovative capabilities, we develop our activities while protecting natural resources and generating a positive impact on the environment.

Innovating for the energy future

The digitisation of networks and business processes is our challenge today.

Reporting Hub

We communicate our performance and documents transparently.

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