Snam to Invest €6.7 Billion to Grow Italian Gas Market
Italian pipeline operating company Snam has announced that it will invest €6.7 billion in the next three years to improve the country's gas infrastructure and to encourage the growth of the gas market. The money will be invested from 2012-2015.
This year, the company will invest €1.4 billion to continue the growth of the company, which has already shown a 4 per cent share price increase for this year.
CEO of Snam Carlo Malacarne said that the aim of the investment is to create an opportunity for Italy to be a transport hub within the European gas market.
""The 2012-2015 strategic plan has been developed in order to position Snam to become a leading integrated operator in the European infrastructure sector, in line with the evolution of legislative and regulatory developments, and with the requirements of the gas system’s stakeholders," he said.
"The strategic alliance with Fluxys and the recent acquisition of shareholding stakes in Interconnector represent the initial steps towards the creation of a gas transit corridor from the south to north central Europe, with Italy playing a leading role as a transport hub."
The investment will be variously spent on transport, storage and distribution projects. The company plans to extend the existing transport infrastructure by 1,000 kilometres, to increase storage modulation capacity by 30 per cent and to increase the number of users availing of its distribution network by 8 per cent. This is expected to bring the user total from 5.9 million redelivery points as of 2010 to 6.4 million points by the end of 2015.
All changes will be implemented in line with the EU's Third Energy Package, Snam says.
"The 6.7 billion euro investment plan for the 2012-2015 period confirms a strong commitment to the development of the gas infrastructure, which will contribute to increasing flexibility in the system and guaranteeing security of supply," Mr. Malacarne said.
"Furthermore, the implementation of the investment plan will permit the development of reverse-flow capacity, which will allow bi-directional gas flows towards north-central Europe."