Iren Group’s district heating service produces and supplies the thermal energy required by customers for heating rooms and producing of domestic hot water.
ARERA has defined (Res. 661/2018) the district heating and district cooling commercial quality regulation, valid until the end of 2021, in view of which the Group has taken steps to adapt the technical-administrative processes and update the Service Charter. The Service Charter constitutes the commitment to satisfy customer needs and to guarantee the reliability of the service, safety when using the service, and fairness and equity in contractual relations. The parameters contained in it allow for objective assessments of compliance with the standards envisaged.
Iren Group constantly monitors the quality and efficiency levels of its services, including district heating, with the aim of adapting strategic choices to customer expectations in a logic of continuous improvement (see page 198).
District heating tariffs
District heating tariffs are not currently governed by national regulations and are historically constituted in accordance with the principle of “avoided gas cost”, i.e. in relation to the cost that the customer would have paid using natural gas (expressed in Euro/scm).
The tariffs are, therefore, related to the final cost of natural gas, which is updated depending on the regulations of ARERA, as regards the gas tariffs of the retail market, and the State as regards the fiscal components.
District heating safety
The Department of Environmental, Territorial and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI) of the Politecnico di Torino University has carried out, since 2017, some studies on the consequences of the possible environmental benefits, in terms of air quality, of district heating systems in the cities of Turin, Reggio Emilia, Parma and Piacenza. Analyses were conducted by comparing the environmental impacts of a scenario with a district heating system to a past scenario with a heating system based on decentralised stand-alone systems. The results showed a substantial reduction in the environmental impacts on the atmosphere through the extension of district heating networks powered by cogeneration plants. The magnitude of this reduction and the average concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere were also calculated in economic terms, i.e. by estimating the social costs avoided due to the reduction of adverse health effects.
The district heating network managed by Iren Group in the municipalities of Turin, Nichelino, Beinasco, Grugliasco, Collegno, Rivoli, Moncalieri, Genoa, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Parma is about 1,091 km long and was inspected entirely in 2021.