Gianni Vittorio Armani (Enel Grids & Innovability), Andrea Rinaldi (Corriere della Sera)

Good morning. Indeed, networks are a fundamental enabler of the smart city because obviously sensors need electricity. A distributed sensor network needs a distributed network that reaches and powers in a distributed way all the intelligence we create with smart cities. Moreover, it is also a facilitator in a context where building infrastructure efficiently is very difficult. It is a fundamental facilitator in building connectivity. Today, 35,000 km of the distribution network are already connected with fiber, and if we look at the history of telecommunications network construction in Italy, both mobile and fixed, much of it relied on electrical infrastructure. So these are indeed supporting elements. The network is also a user of all this distributed knowledge and flexibility that is necessary in a smart context. This is already a reality present on the electrical network today, as the spread of renewable sources, particularly distributed production, creates coordination and connection needs. We currently have 1.5 million electricity consumer clients who have decided to become producers as well. 400,000 of these already have storage capacity, so they can provide services to themselves by accumulating electricity generated during sunny hours, for example, to have it available at other times. But they can also provide services to the network. This is obviously a phenomenon that will develop even more in the coming years. By 2030, we expect 4 million distributed producers, and it completely changes the scenario of energy service management as well. An electrical energy service that becomes increasingly important. We will go from 23% of our energy consumption being electrical to over 50% in Europe. This is because a series of services that today have used fossil fuels will switch to the electric vector, both in mobility and in heat generation, very quickly. This will produce greater sustainability but also a demand for greater flexibility from networks.

This is indeed a gigantic phenomenon that is truly changing the nature of energy systems. With a rather long professional history, I also lived through a national blackout. In that event, there were about a thousand producers in total. The system's security was concentrated on controlling and making these thousand producers work. Obviously, in a scenario heading toward 2030 or even further ahead, we are talking about millions of subjects who simultaneously produce and must guarantee not only energy availability but also system security. This means we must invest in a path of further digitalization that goes beyond the capacity that has been generated so far. In recent years, we made our meters intelligent with the smart meter, which is now readable remotely, whereas before you had to enter buildings to read individual consumption. Then we automated the network. Today, almost all switches on distribution networks are controlled, readable remotely, and also automated, so they close automatically on command. And the third wave is the one that truly requires distributed intelligence. The amount of information coming from a network fed by millions of producers requires distributed intelligence and the ability to act automatically to ensure the security and power supply of the network. This is obviously an investment and a development in which Italy is at the forefront, even at a global level. We introduce intelligence into our secondary substations, which are the network element closest to our clients, and they will be able to interact with devices in clients' homes, both production and consumption systems. This will obviously make the network not only more flexible but also more secure, because with the contribution of millions of people, the network becomes even more secure than it was 30 years ago when we experienced the first real crisis of a country from the standpoint of energy security.

Climate change is a fact. We record it through the events that have been occurring, with increasingly severe weather conditions compared to the design specifications the electrical network was built to withstand. This potentially makes the network more fragile. We need to intervene significantly. We are working on a network reinforcement plan that involves two dimensions: on one hand, a more electrically robust network, with more spare capacity and re-powering routes in case of failure, and components that can withstand more severe weather conditions. On the other, a distributed intelligence that can detect before a failure occurs the possibility that a failure may happen given weather conditions and network operating conditions. This implies the spread of sensors that measure the state of wear of components based on weather trend data as well. This is a very significant effort that reuses the type of intelligence we discussed earlier — distributed intelligence that records data and uses it to make the network safer and more resilient.

Yes, indeed, the PNRR provides 3.8 billion euros for the electrical network — 3.5 billion for Enel Distribuzione's network — and it is a tremendous investment that enables the reception of new renewable sources on the distribution network and the development of hosting capacity, that is, the capacity to welcome this new production. It is also a fundamental source of competitiveness for our country. All the investments made individually can be pooled to make the overall cost of energy lower for the country, making it more competitive. The PNRR is an accelerator in this regard — it has invested a great deal of money, and Enel is a key actor in this process. But it is also a testing ground to improve our public administration. Having very clear deadlines — by June 2026, the interventions must be completed — and measuring the effects of the investments means our country's capacity to plan and deliver infrastructure is being monitored. On this, it is important that the country improves, for example, its authorization processes. Simplifying infrastructure permitting is fundamental for the country's competitiveness, as is the capacity for accountability and good reporting of public works. The interaction with entities like Enel in carrying out investments is also important for intercepting any improper management of public resources. A country wins in its ability to allocate public resources effectively, and on these elements, competitiveness is at stake. The PNRR will therefore deliver concrete results and could also change how public administration works going forward, beyond 2026, for the benefit of all Italians.