Promoting the expansion of sustainable infrastructure and communication technologies and supporting innovation and research
We have done and achieved a great deal in the spheres of R&D investments, the smart grid, and network and platform improvement
- Sustainability plan
- Performance 2023
Sustainability plan
Smart Grid
Develop solutions to provide a better information access infrastructure (smart grid) and improve grid resilience and to help increase the electrification of consumption
| KPI | 2023 | 2026 | 2030 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of users with 2G smart meter electricity (Unareti) | 66% | 96% | 98% | 98% |
| Number of primary stations installed | 38 | 104 | 109 | 115 |
2023 figures are the baseline against which the 24-35 Plan had been calculated. Starting from 2025, annual performances will be compared to the targets to assess wether the Group is on track of the targets themselves.
Innovation and R&D
Develop R&D investments by increasing the number of partnerships with universities and international research centers. Develop new technologies, patents for technological innovation.
| KPI | 2023 | 2026 | 2030 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of experimental projects and PoCs started by the Group on energy transition and circular economy | 62 | 118 | 190 | 280 |
| Investments in early stage start-ups in line with energy transition and a circular economy (new investments and follow ons) | 51 | 75 | 95 | 100 |
2023 figures are the baseline against which the 24-35 Plan had been calculated. Starting from 2025, annual performances will be compared to the targets to assess wether the Group is on track of the targets themselves.
Cyber Security
Infrastructure improvement projects and improvement of IT/ OT/IoT/IIoT platforms and applications. Adoption of defense mechanisms and protection from logic, viral attacks
| KPI | 2023 | 2026 | 2030 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of hours of cyber training | 3,895 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Number of vulnerability analyses | 78 | 550 | 700 | 700 |
2023 figures are the baseline against which the 24-35 Plan had been calculated. Starting from 2025, annual performances will be compared to the targets to assess wether the Group is on track of the targets themselves.
Performance 2023
5,016
installed electric capacity (MVA)
38
primary stations installed
2.53 GW
Generation BU installed renewable capacity
approx. 5,100
cyber anomaly reports analyzed concerning digital ICT and industrial OT services
2.9GWh
thermal energy produced
15.2GWh
electric energy produced
Actions 2023
- the Group aims for excellence in its operational performance in the reliability, quality and safety of services it offers, with ongoing maintenance of the company's plants, the use of BAT (Best Available Technology) and the application of innovative tools and technologies. More specifically, the Smart Infrastructures BU uses 16,702 km of electricity grids and 13,933 km of gas grids to provide distribution services;
- inauguration of the primary power substation at Vobarno (BS); the substation underwent major upgrading work on all low, medium and high voltage systems, new ones were installed to double the power (about 6MW) and a new HV/MV transformer with a rated power of 40MVA entered into service;
- inauguration of the Underground Compact Substation: the innovative prototype of a secondary, fully underground substation to help make the city's power grid increasingly resilient;
- agreement between Unareti and ZEROC to feed the biomethane produced in the plant directly into the low-pressure gas distribution network, making it available to all users connected to the network;
- Unareti, LD Reti and RetiPiù were allocated 4.3 million euros by the Regulatory Authority for Energy Networks and the Environment (ARERA) for four experimental projects under Resolution 404/2022/R/gas “Pilot projects for optimizing the management and uses of infrastructures in the natural gas sector,” in relation to the prospects for energy transition and decarbonization;
- continuation of the PICARRO project for innovative technology in gas leak detection;
- creation of the EMERALD reliability model aimed at developing a machine learning algorithm that assigns a failure rate to each individual section of the gas network (low, medium and high pressure) and identifies a list of intervention priorities on the sections;
- installation of turbo expanders at the Canavese and Macconago gas network reduction substations in order to exploit the gas decompression and rapid cooling processes needed for subsequent feed-in for power generation;
- confirmation of ISO/IEC 27001 certification for new converged cyber IT and OT security incident monitoring and management processes delivered by the Group Cyber Defense Center;
- ISO 22301 certification of the Business Continuity Management System extended to hydroelectric generation for A2A and gas and electricity distribution for LD Reti and Unareti;
- the A2A Spa companies --as far as hydroelectric generation is concerned--and Unareti were the first to obtain ISO/ IEC 62443-3.2 certification for the cyber security of Industrial Control Systems (OT);
- approximately 5,100 cyber incident reports related to digital ICT and industrial OT services were handled and analyzed by the CyberDefence Center in 2023; and about 800 incidents managed, contained, and mitigated in 2023. Of these, 10 were of high and critical severity (about 50 percent less than in 2022) and none such as to compromise corporate business or generate data breaches.
Actions following industrial plan
- An extraordinary €1.2 billion operation to expand the electricity grid, which will enable the Group to achieve a RAB of €3.4 billion in 2035, consolidating its position as the second largest distributed electricity operator in Italy and one of the first in Europe;
- Resilience plan for 2022-2024 in accordance with ARERA resolutions. The main work (amounting to around €14 million) concerns: resilience to flooding, involving underground cabins and consists mainly of:
- bringing cabins above ground where possible;
- building embankments on cabin hatches;
- replacing components with waterproof components.
- heat wave resilience: work consists of:
- replacing joints;
- upgrading the network by increasing cable capacity to support demand peaks.
