Customers and services

In compliance with ARERA provisions, the main initiatives to reduce gas network leaks envisage the gradual application of cathodic protection of the unprotected steel network and the replacement of the cast iron pipelines with hemp and lead joints.

In 2020, in addition to the search for leaks on the underground network imposed by ARERA, the systematic search for leaks also continued at the measurement groups in both the Emilia and Liguria regions.

In reference to gas leaks, the table below highlights the consistent reduction in gas leaks compared to 2019 (-61.3%) and that in 2020 numerically significant gas leaks came from the group of measurement.

Network leaks (no.)

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Gas network composition (km)

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The project to replace the gas network with new steel and polyethylene pipes also continued in 2020.

Safety of the gas network

Network inspection, an effective emergency service and an adequate odorant concentration are fundamentally important elements in the proper operation of a gas distribution system, together with a continuous modernisation of the network. ARERA establishes the safety service obligations, including network inspections.

In 2020, Iren Group inspected 8,016 of the 8,115 km of the gas network managed. The scheduled inspection has also led to a greater control of leaks.

In 2020, 98,8% of gas networks were inspected: more than double the number of inspections required by ARERA.

ARERA also sets minimum levels of odorants for service safety and the protection of people and things. In 2020, Iren Group fed over 45 mg of odorants (tetrahydrothiophene) into the network for every cubic metre of gas distributed, a higher amount than that established by ARERA (32 mg/m³), which means that its presence in the air can be noticed easier and any gas leaks identified quickly.

The Emergency Service is also essential to ensuring the safety of residents and sites. The Group’s performance in this context are significantly above the parameters established by ARERA. In 2020, the gas Emergency Service handled 7,528 calls, with an average arrival time at the call site that varies in the range shown in the table below, depending on the regions served.

District heating

Iren Group’s district heating service produces and supplies the thermal energy required by customers for heating rooms and producing hot water.

ARERA has defined (Res. 661/2018) the district heating and district cooling commercial quality regulation, valid until the end of 2021, in view of which the Group has taken steps to adapt the technical-administrative processes and update the District Heating Service Charter, available on the irenlucegas.it website along with the relative information sections. The Service Charter constitutes the commitment to satisfy customer needs and to guarantee the reliability of the service, safety when using the service, and fairness and equity in contractual relations. The parameters contained in it allow for an objective assessment of compliance with the guaranteed standards.

Iren Group constantly monitors the quality and efficiency levels of its services, including district heating, with the aim of adapting strategic choices to customer expectations in a logic of continuous improvement (see page 100 of the “Sustainability Report”).

District heating tariffs

District heating tariffs are not currently governed by national regulations and are historically constituted by the principle of “avoided gas cost”, i.e. the cost that the customer would have paid using natural gas (expressed in Euro/m³).

The tariffs are, therefore, related to the final cost of natural gas, which is updated depending on the regulations of ARERA, as regards the gas tariffs of the retail market, and the state as regard to taxes and VAT.

Network subject to inspetion

The district heating network managed by Iren Group in the Municipalities of Turin, Nichelino, Beinasco, Grugliasco, Collegno, Rivoli, Moncalieri, Genoa, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Parma is just over 1,064 km long and was inspected entirely in 2020.

Integrated water service

Integrated water service tariff

The organisation of the integrated water service in A.T.O.s (water and waste regulation areas) has led to new rules for setting tariffs, which must completely cover investment and operating costs.

In general, the water service tariff consists of:

• a fixed component of service, due regardless of consumption;
• a variable component based on the consumption of water and wastewater treatment services..

To discourage waste, the tariff is divided into bands and increases as consumption rises. There are also different types of use: domestic resident, domestic non-resident, industrial, artisan and commercial, agricultural and livestock, public non-disconnectable, public disconnectable, other uses (residual category).

The following table shows the average tariffs, defined by the regulatory authorities, for the services managed in each local area (drinking water distribution, sewerage and treatment).

Iren Group only partly manages the areas served in the Provinces of Savona and Imperia, with activities mainly concerning the water service.

⁽¹⁾ The average tariff is calculated by adding the basic domestic use tariff for the water service, the sewerage tariff and the treatment tariff.

⁽²⁾ 2019 values confirmed, the tariff for the year 2020 has not yet been approved.

⁽³⁾ Minimum and maximum values of the different tariffs in the area

In 2020, 936,348 water meters were installed, 10% of which are electronic. These are new-generation meters that, in addition to providing real-time data for billing amounts due, help make residents more aware of their consumption, encouraging behaviour aimed at reducing and improving the use of water, with subsequent environmental benefits.

Water bonus

With Resolution 897/2017 ARERA has introduced the social water bonus for customers in financial difficulty. Users with an EESI of less than 8,107.5 Euro (or less than 20,000 Euro if there are more than three dependent children) and other specific categories are entitled to apply for the bonus. The bonus covers the consumption of 50 litres of integrated water service per person per day.

In order to support the cost, a specific tariff component (UI3) equal to 0.005 Euro/m³ sold was introduced for the year 2020. The regional governing bodies may add an additional bonus, financed by the tariff of the Area itself and disbursed according to modalities established by said body. Unlike last year, ATERSIR (Regional Agency of Emilia Romagna for Water and Waste Services) did not approve the supplementary bonus for 2020, as the amount made available in previous years has not been fully used. The governing bodies of the Genoa and La Spezia Areas resolved for 2020, respectively, an amount equal to 400,000 Euro and 220,000 Euro.

Quality of the integrated water service

The Service Charters of Iren Group’s integrated water service include the indicators and time frames defined by ARERA (Resolution 655/15). In 2020, the data for 2019 was reported, confirming a very high level of compliance with the established time frames, with an average of 90%.

In order to constantly monitor the quality of services, Iren Group also regards customer satisfaction monitoring to be of fundamental importance. The periodic collection of these surveys was included as an integral and essential part of the operators’ quality system (see page 100 of the “Sustainability Report”).

Water quality

Water quality control consists of analysing the main parameters laid down by Italian Legislative Decree 31/2001 at the various sampling points established by the Organisation responsible for the control (LHU) along the distribution network and at the outlet of the large purification plants. If the water withdrawn contains levels of harmful substances that exceed the limits specified by legislation, it will be subject to treatment prior to distribution. The treatments most frequently used for deep water are normally designed to remove iron, manganese and ammonia, elements naturally present in the groundwater captured. The quality of the water is guaranteed by a control on the entire water process: from water sources to the treatment, filtration and purification processes and the distribution network, up to actual delivery to customers. The samples taken are analysed at Iren Group laboratories to determine their chemical and microbiological characteristics. In the treatment sector, analytical tests are carried out on the wastewater flowing into and out of the plants, and on the intermediate treatment steps, the sludge produced and the drains from the production user plants into the sewer. The number of samples and the relative analysed parameters derive from sampling plans prepared for all the areas managed. The internal tests exceed the minimum number required by law and the protocols stipulated with ATO, ARPA and provincial authorities.

⁽¹⁾ From 2019, the areas that are no longer served by the Group, were not included: Aosta, Alessandria, Novara, Brescia, Pavia, Verona and, from 2020 Bolano.

⁽²⁾ The figure relates to the Municipalities of Viadana and Gazzuolo (MN) and only to samples and parameters conducted on drinking water as the Group does not manage the waste water service.

Over 56,000 samples and 794,000 parameters analysed on drinking and wastewater to ensure residents’ safety.

Water distribution

Following the necessary tests to establish compliance with the requirements of drinking water, the water withdrawn at various sources is fed into the distribution network that reaches all points of use. Control, extension and maintenance activities are carried out on the networks with a view to minimising inconvenience for the public as far as possible. A priority, in fact, is the attention to the protection of the urban environment and the sustainability of everyday life, in particular with regard to the impact on city streets.

In 2020, 1,248 planned interruptions in managed areas were conducted, i.e. water supply suspensions that are necessary to perform previously planned works. In these cases, warnings are issued through the press and local television stations about the duration of the interventions, as they affect a large part of the population. In other cases, notices are posted in the areas concerned to inform the public of the interruption date.

For emergency interventions, e.g. to repair a burst pipe, all of the necessary measures are taken in order to restore the water supply in the shortest possible time, in accordance with the provisions of the laws in force. In 2020, 8,737 breaks occurred, with repairs carried out after reports received and leaks detected.

The average arrival time at the place of the emergency call for Iren Group is 106 minutes.

In 2020, out of 19,944 km of managed water network, more than 14,229 km (over 70% of the total) were checked for leaks: 4,039 km (about 20%) through the acoustic research technique carried out on-site and 10,190 km (more than 50%) employing night-time flow monitoring, a structural activity that makes it possible to analyse distribution districts and check for any anomalies.

Environmental services

Tariff system

The TARI tax is composed of:

• a fixed part, determined by the cost of sweeping, general costs, part of the cost of personnel and other essential components of the cost of the service, relating in particular to depreciation and administrative costs
• a variable part related to the quantity of waste conferred, the service provided, and the management costs.

The TARI is applied to utilities, taking account of the surface area occupied and partly, for domestic utilities, accounting for the number of family members. With the TARI, Iren Group invoices its service to the municipality and the municipality issues payment notices to the users.

In calculating the TARI, the municipal authority takes account of the VAT that it has to pay, which is why, in the tax applied to users, the VAT is not expressed but included in the tax itself. Social tariffs are not provided for by the general legislation of the TARI. At a regulatory level, every municipality may include favourable conditions or reduction clauses in favour of certain groups or users. The average tariff for waste collection and environmental health services in Turin, La Spezia, Vercelli, Parma, Piacenza and Reggio Emilia is in line with previous years.

The table below provides the average TARI for 2020 for the main Municipalities served.

Energy efficiency

In 2020, about 110 construction sites were started to recover external façades and for the energy upgrading of buildings (mainly condominiums) through state tax bonuses such as Bonus Facciate [Façades Bonus] or Ecobonus. Approximately 300 projects for the energy requalification of condominiums have been started using the 110% “Superbonus” tax deduction introduced in the Italian Decree-Law of 19 May 2020 (so-called Decreto Rilancio [Relaunch Decree]). 

According to a general contractor model, these activities are carried out by the subsidiary Iren Smart Solutions that offers a turnkey package, including invoice discount/credit assignment as required by the regulations. Thanks to the collaboration with subcontractors, professionals and companies qualified in the supplier register who carry out the works, Iren Group acts as the sole interlocutor with the customer.

In addition, through partnerships with companies specializing in energy efficiency, LED relamping, upgrading of thermal systems with heat pumps, and construction of photovoltaic systems were carried out in 2020. A project to develop “Energy Communities” and “Collective Self-Consumption” systems has also been launched to promote the diffusion of renewable source plants to condominiums, public administrations and small and medium-sized businesses. Through “Energy Communities”, several users can share the electricity produced by one or more photovoltaic systems, with immediate benefits in both economic and environmental terms. The first pilot project was launched in a condominium in Parma, adopting a management system that, based on the instantaneous consumption of condominium users and individual apartments, automatically manages the energy produced by the photovoltaic system, maximizing energy self-consumption.

The Group has launched initiatives to raise awareness of the importance and advantages of energy upgrading in buildings, also through dedicated webinars, promoting environmental sustainability, the correct use of resources and urban requalification.

Telecommunications

In 2020, the activities in the IoT (Internet of Things) area were intensified. The experimental activities started in 2019 for the activation of new sensors on gas networks were completed, and the experiments for the use of new Narrow Band IoT mobile connectivity technologies began. The infrastructure for accessing Cloud services was also completed with a new fibre interconnection on the Frankfurt datacentres.

In the management of the service to the Group’s customers, 2020 saw a significant increase in the use of bandwidth for internet connections and, to this end, new 10Gbps quality connections were implemented, thanks to which many customers were able to work without difficulty in smart working, a working model implemented during the lockdown period. Customer satisfaction monitoring is consistent with past years and is evidenced by the renewal of contracts for major customers. Retention indicators confirmed expectations, and commercial performance met expected budgets.