Snam's presence in transmission in Italy
32,727 km
Operating gas pipeline network
Snam, through its subsidiaries Snam Rete Gas S.p.A. and Infrastutture Trasporto Gas, is the leading Italian natural gas transportation and dispatching operator, and owns almost all the transportation infrastructures in Italy, with over 32,727 kilometres of high- and medium-pressure gas pipelines (approximately 94% of the entire transportation system). Snam manages the gas pipeline network via 8 districts, 48 maintenance centres throughout Italy, 13 compression stations, including the two new Minerbio and Sergnano plants that came into operation in 2018, and a new dispatching unit that has recently been renovated in terms of structure and technology. The gas coming from abroad is fed into the network in the seven import channels, corresponding to the interconnections with the import pipelines and LNG regasification terminals. Once it has been imported or regasified, the gas is transported to the local distribution networks, the regional network redelivery points or large end users such as thermoelectric power stations or manufacturing plants.
Snam awards transportation capacity to shippers who apply. In this way, users acquire the right to inject or withdraw a quantity of gas not exceeding the daily rate allocated on any day of the thermal year. The conditions for access to the service are contained in the Network Code. Shippers have the possibility of making gas sales and trades at a Virtual Trading Point (PSV) of the National Network, thanks to the dedicated IT platform.
75.37 bn m3
Gas injected in the national network
The transportation capacity of the network again covered all user demand in 2019. In addition to the average transport capacity offered at entry points connected with foreign countries and with LNG terminals equal to 362.9 million cubic metres/day; Snam has made further transport capacities available at entry points interconnected with national producers for a total of 20.7 million cubic metres average/day and with the production of biomethane for a total of 0.3 million of cubic metres average/day.
Over the last 16 years transport operators have been constantly increasing, going from around 30 operators in 2003 to around 210 operators in 2019 (including shippers and traders).
In 2019, 123 connection agreements were entered into for the creation of new delivery/redelivery points or for upgrading existing ones, including 26 contracts for the injection of biomethane and 61 relating to CNG service areas.