Image: Italgas

The new digital networks completed in the Valle D’Aosta form part of a €100 million ($99 million) investment to digitise and grow the gas distribution networks and expand the customer base in the region.

The first sections of networks completed are in the municipality of Gressan, while the first stretch of methanisation of Saint Marcel municipality is set to soon follow.

The new networks are biomethane and hydrogen ready, with their delivery anticipated for the near future, according to an Italgas statement.

The work in the two municipalities envisages the construction of over 22km of new networks and about 400 new connections by 2025.

The full plan for the Valle D’Aosta includes the construction of about 270km of new networks and the methanisation of 18 municipalities along with an increase in the number of users served from the current 20,000 to about 42,000 over the 12 years of concession.

Along with these works, activities also are under way on over 650km of pipelines in the municipalities of Marche and Abruzzo in central Italy for a total investment of about €3 million, with completion expected by mid-2023.

Interventions in this region include 91 pressure reduction plants.

The full digitalisation of the networks include the installation of smart meters for all current and future users and other IoT devices and technologies for the wide scale acquisition of network parameters for real-time monitoring of operations, big data analysis and the transition to predictive maintenance among other use cases.

Various energy efficiency interventions are also intended.