The Board of Directors of IREN S.p.A. today approved the updated business plan to 2030.
"Today we approve the update of the plan pursuing growth based on a strong strategic focus and careful financial discipline. Confirming the strategic vision undertaken and based on the ecological transition, territoriality and service quality, we introduce a new allocation of capital, which is underpinned by a solid investment plan, visible in its expected returns and flexible. These elements are complemented by a high level of attention to financial discipline, aimed at maintaining current rating levels, and a dividend policy characterised by extended visibility and solidity, with a DPS of +8% until 2027” - says Luca Dal Fabbro, the Group’s Executive Chairman - “Investments of 8.2 billion euros are planned to support an EBITDA of around 1.8 billion euros in 2030. This increase is supported by organic growth, driven by the regulated grid infrastructure business which will reach 4.5 billion euros in RAB, the realisation of 1.2 GW of new renewable capacity, the development of waste treatment and disposal plants, and the increase of the customer base to 2.6 million customers. In addition, the consolidation of EGEA and Sienambiente will contribute to the achievement of the industrial targets of all business units, and the efficiency-boosting process initiated will support EBITDA growth of about 130 million euros over the plan period”.
"The Industrial Plan just approved confirms the strategic and sustainable trajectory embarked upon by Iren, with challenging medium- and long-term objectives that will see the Group strengthen its leadership in several sectors. - declares Moris Ferretti, Executive Vice President of the Iren Group - In particular, the continued commitment to a sustainable use of the water resource will allow the Group to target 20% of water losses by 2030, the development of new waste treatment plants will allow the doubling of recovered matter, the extension of district heating volumes will support the ecological transition of cities, and finally, investments will continue for the decarbonization of our production sources with the goal of halving the cabonic intensity compared to 2020. Planned investments particularly in the environmental sector, and particularly the consolidation of Sienambiente, will strengthen Iren's industrial presence in Tuscany, enabling new opportunities in the territory. At the same time, human capital will be maximized thanks also to about 2,400 new hires."
STRATEGY
Iren's growth strategy for the next 7 years is confirmed and continues to be consistent with the main macro-trends in the sector, i.e. decarbonisation and the development of renewables, the circular economy, energy efficiency and the safeguarding of natural resources. The strategic vision to 2030 is based on three fundamental pillars: the ecological transition with a progressive decarbonisation of energy generation sources and the strengthening of leadership in the circular economy, through the recovery of energy and matter from waste and in the sustainable use of resources, particularly water resources; the creation of value from the territories, thanks to the ability to work as a system with the territory, making its expertise available to the country to develop new infrastructures and plants; the quality of service through the improvement of performance and the maximisation of customer/citizen satisfaction levels also thanks to an increasingly broader portfolio of services and products.
A strongly sustainable strategic vision, with the definition of precise medium- and long-term targets, in line with the European Sustainable Development Goals and validated by the Science Based Target initiative. The ESG commitments and targets are developed according to the guidelines of the ecological transition and the centrality of communities and people and are organised according to 5 focus areas: decarbonisation, circular economy, water resources, resilient cities and people.
INVESTMENT PLAN
The business plan update envisages a gross investment of 8.2 billion euros, of which 60% relates to development investments and 40% to maintenance. The current investment plan differs from the previous one by increasing projects in regulated businesses, a slowdown of RES capacity development, the rescheduling of waste management development plants and the reduction of inorganic deals. In this regard, around 94% of the planned investments are related to organic growth and only 6% to consolidation, tenders and M&A, 85% of which have already been identified and are being finalised (EGEA and Sienambiente).
In addition, 80% of cumulative investments are focused in the regulated sectors, in order to upgrade, modernise and digitise grid services, develop renewable capacity through PPA contracts and incentives, extend district heating, and improve the service quality of municipal waste collection.
The plan concentrates most of investments intensity in the first four years of the plan and is characterised by low execution risk, high predictability of results and a high degree of flexibility that allows development cash out to be modified in time if necessary.
More than 70% of the investments, amounting to 5.8 billion euros, are directed towards projects that contribute to the achievement of the sustainability targets set, in particular to support the transformation to resilient cities, the energy transition, sustainable water management through the reduction of network losses, and the circular economy, aimed at the recovery of materials and energy sources.
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