Enaon, a subsidiary of Italgas, will invest €1 billion in Greece as part of the group's Strategic Plan 2024-2030.

THE FOCUS AREAS

As mentioned at yesterday's press conference, the investments will be concentrated on: 

• Providing access to off-grid areas and phasing out the most polluting fuels
• Digital transformation of the grid, including the replacement of conventional meters by H2-ready smart meters
• Deployment of renewable gases (biomethane and green hydrogen)
• Utilisation of the existing grid to make energy infrastructure more flexible

NETWORKS

The plan foresees €650 million to build more than 3,000 km of new grid, extending projects to areas not yet connected. The network expansion covers 18 cities in the years 2024 and 2025 and increases the number of consumers served by Enaon from 615,000 today to 920,000 by 2030. 
In detail, it concerns the following areas: 

Patras (Industrial Area 2024; Urban Area 2025), Amfissa and Karpenisi, by January 2025
Alexandria, Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Preveza, Igoumenitsa, Pyrgos, and Agrinio in 2025
Grevena, Livadia, Giannitsa, Kastoria, Argos Orestiko, Orestiada, Veroia, and Florina joined the network in 2024

LNG

Simultaneously, we anticipate the implementation of cryogenic LNG tanks in distribution systems, particularly for remote areas not connected to the main gas transmission infrastructure. Nine such tanks will be built during the first part of the project.

DANA

We will digitize 100% of the infrastructure in 2025, and integrate proprietary DANA (Digital Advanced Network Automation) software for automated management and remote control of networks and facilities in 2026. Enaon will adopt the DANA technology from the Italian network, considering the unique characteristics of the Greek network. 

SMART METERS

Besides that, the business wants to replace the current regular meters with Nimbus, a "H2 ready" smart meter that promises better performance in terms of remote monitoring and metering of consumption, as well as the ability to manage mixtures of gas and renewable gas. The installation of meters will start in 2025 and will involve around 570,000 meters. In addition, Greece is already using the Picarro system for early detection of gas leaks. By 2025, Picarro will enable checks on 200% of the network, after reaching the target of 150% in 2024. Finally, Enaon is conducting an extensive study of the main biogas plants in Greece to connect them to the distribution network, supporting their upgrade to biomethane plants. 

NEW CHARGES

It was announced yesterday that the uniform tariff for gas distribution came into force on 1 December, providing for case-by-case reductions of up to 30% and increases of up to 33%.
As Enaon's CEO Barbara Morgante stated in this regard, a residential consumer saves on average annually: 

€10 in Attica
€80 in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
€58 in Central Macedonia
€35 in Western Greece 

On the other hand, the maximum increase is just over €3.5 per month in Thessaloniki and less than €1 per month in Thessaly. As Mrs. Morgante stressed, the distribution tariff represents 20%–25% of the total bill and that it does not lead to an increase in the operator's revenues but brings about a fair distribution of costs between the different regions.

INDUSTRIAL CONSUMERS

The CEO of Enaon stated that the industrial sector could not immediately implement a uniform tariff due to significant tariff variation, unlike residential consumers. Therefore, they deemed a gradual approach in this direction necessary. "To give an idea, before the tariff unification proposal, in the residential sector, tariffs differed very significantly between regions (up to twice as high between immature and mature networks in terms of network penetration), while in the industrial sector the difference was even six times higher," he said.