Italy’s Snam to Invest $6.4 Billion to Boost Gas Infrastructure
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Italian natural gas infrastructure firm Snam has announced its plan to invest €5.2bn ($6.44bn) from 2017 to 2021 to boost natural gas infrastructure, amid a sustained growth in gas demand.
The new investment plan, which represents a 10 percent increase from a previous plan presented in March 2017, will focus on development of Italian infrastructure and its interconnection with European infrastructure.
As part of the investment plan, the firm plans to allocate €4.6bn to the transportation network, including the development of the high pressure network in Sardinia through a joint project with SGI as well as connection with the TAP infrastructure, and the completion of reverse-flow and other non-regulated technical investments.
About €0.6bn is planned to be invested in storage and regasification projects as well as for the maintenance and replacement of 650km of transportation network sections.
Snam also plans to invest approximately €360m to boost energy efficiency and reduce methane emissions by 2021 by 10 percent compared to 2016 levels.
In addition to studying opportunities in Small Scale LNG (SSLNG), Snam is studying opportunities in coastal deposits sectors to strengthen its role in the energy transition.
In Italy, the company seeks to strengthen storage capacity and make new investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
Snam CEO Marco Alverà said: “2017 has been a very positive year for us. A solid investment program and a renewed focus on being an agile, innovative and efficient company, allow us to improve the objectives of the plan presented last year, guaranteeing attractive returns to our shareholders.
“In the coming years we expect that the increase in biomethane production as well as the confirmed commitment to energy efficiency and the increase in the use of natural gas in transport and heating can offer Snam the opportunity to play an important role in the decarbonization process.
“The planned investments and the dividend policy will be entirely financed by our cash generation.”
Recently, Fluxys and Snam have agreed to buy out the 33.5 percent stake of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in the Interconnector UK offshore gas pipeline.
The transaction will see Fluxys and Snam becoming the sole shareholders of the 235km long underwater gas pipeline, with stakes of 76.32 percent and 23.68 percent, respectively.
Source: Energy Business Review
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