12. Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment, which amounts to €15,563 million (€15,478 million at 31 December 2015) breaks down as follows:

Property, plant and equipment (€15,563 million, compared with €15,478 million at 31 December 2015) relates mainly to transportation (€12,638 million), storage (€2,838 million) and regasification (€84 million) infrastructure.

Investments¹⁹ (€863 million) mainly relate to continuing operations (€854 million) and refer mainly to the transportation (€734 million) and storage (€113 million) segments.

During the year, Snam capitalised €23 million of financial expenses (€28 million in 2015).

Depreciation of continuing operations (€570 million) refers to economic and technical depreciation determined on the basis of the useful life of the assets or their remaining possible use by the Company.

Capital contributions from government authorities and other entities (€69 million and €307 million; €71 million and €298 million respectively at 31 December 2015) are recorded as a deduction in the net value of property, plant and equipment.

The changes in the scope of consolidation (€225 million, net of the related provisions for depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses) refer to the deconsolidation of Italgas Reti S.p.A. following the loss of control after the transaction separating the natural gas distribution business from Snam S.p.A.

Divestments (€22 million, net of the related provisions for depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses) mainly relate to the transportation segment.

Impairment losses and reversals (€35 million) refer essentially to the impairment of the assets not yet available for use mainly with regard to the transportation segment.

The value of plant and equipment includes site dismantling and restoration costs (€287 million), relating mainly to natural gas storage (€192 million) and transportation (€93 million) sites.

Other changes (€89 million net of the related provisions for depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses) mainly relate to: (i) the revision of estimated (discounted) costs for site restoration and dismantling (€116 million) in the natural gas storage and transportation segments, which are offset by the recognition of a specific provision²⁰, mainly due to the change in expected discount rates; (ii) the change in stocks of pipes and related accessory materials used in the production of plants in the natural gas transportation segment (€12 million); and (iii) grants for the period (€18 million).

Contractual commitments to purchase property, plant and equipment, and to provide services related to the construction thereof, are reported in Note 23 “Guarantees, commitments and risks”.

Tangible assets by business segment

Property, plant and equipment by business segment, break down as illustrated below: