The Group is structured according to a model which provides for an industrial holding company, with registered office in Reggio Emilia, and four companies responsible for the single business lines operating in the main operating bases of Genoa, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Turin, Vercelli and La Spezia.
The Holding is responsible for the strategic, development, coordination and control activities, while the four Business Units (BUs) have been entrusted with the coordination and guidance of the companies operating in their respective sectors:
- Networks, which operates in the field of the integrated water cycle, and in the gas distribution and electricity distribution sectors;
- Waste Management, which performs the activities of waste collection and disposal;
- Energy, operating in the sectors of electricity production, district heating and energy efficiency;
- Market, active in the sale of electricity, gas, heat and customer services
Networks BU
The lead company IRETI and the business unit’s subsidiaries handle the integrated water cycle, electricity distribution, natural gas distribution and other minor activities.
Integrated Water Services
IRETI, directly and through the operating subsidiaries Iren Acqua, Iren Acqua Tigullio, ASM Vercelli and ACAM Acque, as mentioned above, operates in the field of water supply, sewerage and waste water treatment in the provinces of Genoa, Savona, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Vercelli, La Spezia, and several municipalities in Piedmont and Lombardy.
Overall, in the Ambiti Territoriali Ottimali (ATO, Optimal Territorial Areas) managed, the service is provided in 241 municipalities through a distribution network of 20,258 kilometres, serving almost 2.8 million residents. As regards waste water, the Networks BU manages a sewerage network spanning a total of 11,189 kilometres.
On 21 July 2020, the group, through IRETI and AMIAT, acquired the majority stake in Nord Ovest Servizi S.p.A., which holds a 45% stake in Asti Servizi Pubblici operating in the integrated water cycle, and in the environment and transport sectors in the province.
Gas distribution
IRETI distributes natural gas in 70 municipalities of the Provinces of Reggio Emilia, Parma and Piacenza, in the Municipality of Genoa and in 20 other municipalities nearby. Through ASM Vercelli it distributes gas in the city of Vercelli, in 10 municipalities of the same province and in 3 other municipalities located in Piedmont and Lombardy. The distribution network, made up of 8,115 kilometres of high, medium and low‐pressure pipes, serves a catchment area of approximately 743 thousand redelivery points.
Electricity distribution
IRETI provides the electricity distribution service in the cities of Turin, Parma and, through ASM Vercelli, in the city of Vercelli with 7,795 kilometres of network in medium and low voltage, and a total of more than 724 thousand connected users.
Waste Management BU
The Waste Management Business Unit carries out waste collection, processing and disposal activities mainly through geographically‐distributed companies: Iren Ambiente, operating mainly in the Emilia area, AMIAT, TRM, ASM Vercelli (subsidiary of IRETI), and Territorio e Risorse, operating in the Piedmont area, ACAM Ambiente and ReCos operating in the Liguria area. Finally, the subsidiary San Germano operates mainly in Sardinia, Lombardy, Piedmont, and Emilia Romagna.
With the merger by incorporation of the subsidiaries CMT, which occurred in January 2020, and Ferrania Ecologia, effective from 1 April 2020, IREN Ambiente extended its direct operations to the Turin and Savona areas, respectively.
The Waste Management BU carries out all the activities of the urban waste management chain (collection, selection, recovery and disposal), with particular attention to sustainable development and to environmental protection confirmed by growing levels of separated waste collection; it also manages an important customer portfolio to which it provides all the services for special waste disposal.
Through these activities, the Waste Management BU serves a total of 307 municipalities for a total of more than 3.0 million residents present in its operating areas; the plant assets of the integrated waste cycle consist mainly of 3 waste‐to‐energy plants (TRM, owned by the company of the same name, in Turin, the Integrated Environmental Hub (“Polo Ambientale Integrato” ‐PAI), in Parma, and Tecnoborgo, in Piacenza, these latter owned by the lead company Iren Ambiente), 2 active landfill sites, 197 equipped ecological stations and 36 treatment, selection, storage and recovery plants.
The consolidation of the Waste Management BU for the management of all phases of the waste cycle continued this year with the incorporation, in January, of the special purpose entity Rigenera Materiali with registered office in Genoa and entirely owned by Iren Ambiente. The company engages in the design, construction, management and operation of a plant for the Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) of urban waste, to be built in the plant hub in Scarpino (Genoa). The plant will have a processing capacity of 100 Ktonnes/year and will have the function of separating the wet fraction from the dry fraction of municipal solid waste, sending them to disposal or recovery, obtaining from the latter secondary solid fuel.
On 12 August, the company I.Blu became part of the group, with the purchase of an 80% shareholding by Iren Ambiente. I.Blu operates in the selection of plastic waste to be sent for recovery and recycling in two plants, with a total capacity of 200 Kton/year, and in the treatment of plastic waste for the production of Blupolymer (polymer for civil uses) and Bluair ("reducing agent" for steel plants).
This transaction was carried out to enable Iren to become the national leader in the selection of Corepla plastics and, prospectively, in the treatment of so‐called plasmix, i.e. heterogeneous plastics that currently do not have an outlet in the recycling market downstream of separate collection.
On 17 November, lren Ambiente Spa finalised the acquisition of UNIECO Environment Division, which includes the company UNIECO Holding Ambiente (UHA) and other subsidiaries and associated companies operating in the waste sector, located in a number of Italian regions: Emilia, Piedmont, Tuscany, Marche and Puglia.
The companies belonging to UNIECO Environment Division are active in all stages of the supply chain: from waste brokerage to the treatment and disposal of urban and special waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, and through the associate SEI Toscana which also operates in the field of collection of urban waste.
UNIECO Environment Division can count on a considerable amount of facilities consisting of: 2 landfills, 2 storage and transfer plants, 3 material recovery plants, 2 liquid waste treatment plants and 3 mechanical biological treatment plants.
This important operation will enable the Waste Management Business Unit to consolidate its position among the leading national operators in the environmental sector, expanding significantly the geographical area served, strengthening its role as a leading national operator in the treatment and development or disposal of special waste, and acquiring a strategic position in the collection of waste from a vast area of the Tuscany Region.
Energy BU
Production of electricity and heat
The Energy BU’s installed capacity totals 2,858 MW of electricity and approximately 2,373 MW of heat. Specifically, it has 30 electricity production plants directly available to it: 22 hydroelectric (including 3 mini-hydro) systems, 7 thermoelectric cogeneration systems, and 1 conventional thermoelectric system. The Business Unit also has 85 photovoltaic production plants with an installed capacity of 20 MW.
All primary energy sources used are eco‐friendly because they are mainly hydroelectric and co‐generative. In particular, the hydroelectric production system plays an important role in environmental protection, as it uses a renewable and clean resource, without the emission of pollutants, and reduces the need to make use of other forms of production that have a greater environmental impact.
On the thermoelectric side, at Group level, more than 34% of the total thermal power at the service of district heating comes from the cogeneration plants owned by Iren Energia and produces 80% of the heat intended for district heating. The share of thermal output related to conventional heat generators is 58%, with district heating production at 16%. The remaining portion is produced by group plants not belonging to the Energy BU (waste to energy plants).
In 2020, Iren signed with Ansaldo a contract for the expansion of the Turbigo thermal power plant through the design, supply and construction of a new gas-powered combined cycle electricity generation plant, which will increase the overall installed capacity of the Turbigo site from the current 850 MW to approximately 1,280 MW.
Iren Energia also oversees the Group’s electricity and thermal energy planning and dispatching activities, as well as operations on borsa elettrica (pool market).
District heating
Iren Energia has the largest district heating network in the country with more than 1,064 kilometres of dual pipes. The extension of the network amounts to 700 kilometers in the Turin area, of which 76 kilometers of network recently acquired (district heating business unit of SEI Energia) in the municipalities of Grugliasco, Rivoli and Collegno (Metropolitan City of Turin), 10 in the Municipality of Genoa, 221 in the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, 103 in the Municipality of Parma, and 29 in the Municipality of Piacenza. The total volume heated amounts to 96.7 million cubic metres, of which 5.3 million relating to the SEI Energia business unit. The acquisition of this business, which occurred in April 2020, includes also 49% of the company Nove S.p.A.
Energy efficiency services
Iren Energia, through its subsidiary Iren Smart Solutions operates in the energy efficiency sector, carrying out activities of planning, creation and management of projects for the reduction of energy consumption, saving and efficiency; its handles the supply of energy services and global services destined for residential buildings, private and public structures and industrial and commercial complexes guaranteeing maintenance and conduction of heating, conditioning, plumbing, sanitary, refrigeration and electrical systems, and of solar panels, as well as their design and installation. Iren Smart Solutions also handles the development and management of public lighting and traffic lights and similar services.
On 21 July 2020, Iren Energia acquired from ASTA S.p.A. (Gavio group) 28% of the company Asti Energia e Calore S.p.A., thus consolidating its equity investment in the company, which now amounts to 62%.
Market BU
Through Iren Mercato, Atena Trading and Salerno Energia Sales, the Group trades electricity, gas and heat through the district heating network, in the supply of fuels for internal consumption and in customer management services of investee companies.
Iren Mercato operates, in the context of the free market, all over the country, with a higher concentration of customers served in Central and Northern Italy, and handles the sale of the energy provided by the Group’s various sources on the market, represented by final customers and wholesalers. The main Group energy sources available for its activities are the thermoelectric and hydroelectric plants of Iren Energia.
Iren Mercato also acts as “higher protection” service operator for retail customers in the electricity market in the Province of Turin and the Parma area. Through the acquisition of a company branch, starting from January 2020 Iren Mercato has extended this activity to the catchment area of the municipality of Sanremo in the province of Imperia. The transaction concluded at the end of 2019 between the company AMAIE S.p.A., owned by the municipality of Sanremo, and Iren Mercato transferred to the latter the Sanremo Luce business unit bringing in a portfolio of approximately 21 thousand customers in the higher protection segment for expected consumption of approximately 50 GWh per year.
Historically, Iren Mercato is active in the direct sale of methane gas in the areas of Genoa, Turin and the Emilia Romagna region.
Lastly, it handles heat sales to district heating customers in the Municipality of Turin and the provincial capitals of Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza and Genoa and sales development in new district heating areas.
Among the commercial proposals in being, we can note the “New downstream” business line, destined for the sale to retail customer of innovative products in the area of domotics, energy saving and maintenance of domestic systems, and “IrenGO at zero emissions”, the innovative offer for electric mobility aimed at private customers, businesses and public bodies with the objective of reducing the environmental impact of movements. On this subject, the Group has already tested the potentials and benefits of e‐mobility through the internal launch of a series of initiatives, such as the installation of recharging infrastructures and the gradual introduction of electric vehicles. All the IrenGO internal and external electric mobility initiatives benefit from 100% green energy supply deriving from the Group’s hydroelectric plants.
Sale of Natural Gas
Retail gas customers managed by the Market Business Unit amounted to more than 906 thousand, mainly spread throughout the traditional Genoa, Turin and Emilia Romagna catchment area and surrounding development and the catchment areas of Vercelli and the area in Campania (through ATENA Trading and Salerno Energia Vendite, respectively), and La Spezia.
In particular, Salerno Energia Vendite is present in almost all the provinces in Campania as well as in a number of municipalities of the Basilicata, Calabria, Tuscany and Lazio regions.
Sale of electricity
The retail electricity customers managed amount to approximately 971 thousand, distributed mainly across the traditionally served basin of Turin and Parma and in the other areas commercially covered by Iren Mercato and ATENA Trading, extended since the beginning of the year also to the municipality of Sanremo with a contribution of approximately 21,500 customers of the higher protection service.
Sale of heat through the district heating network
Iren Mercato manages the sale of heat, purchased from Iren Energia, to customers receiving district heating in the municipalities of Turin, Nichelino, Beinasco (Turin area), Genoa, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Parma.