Acea's mission and role

Our company serves our citizens and the community Every day, we work to ensure the wellbeing of the communities where we operate and fulfil the primary needs of our customers/residents.

Mission

Our main objective is to improve the life of all residents by providing primary services. We aim to constantly enhance quality, thanks to an efficient management of our infrastructures and major investments in technological innovation. We contribute to the country’s ecological transition in keeping with the long-term objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda. We invest in the circular economy, the sustainable development of local communities where we operate and the creation of a fully inclusive work environment.

Sustainable development of the community and primary services

Acea’s industrial vocation passes through sustainability, a value we view as fundamental. In fact, sustainable development is a characterising and structural element that guides the Group’s business decisions and operational management. We are also committed to social sustainability for the wellbeing of our people. We work each day to build a healthy and inclusive environment, where individuals can sense their active participation and offer their own contribution.

We are committed to actively contributing to the achievement of the goals related to ecological transition, with development projects in the field of circular economy with a view to smart city, by increasing the resilience and the digitalization of electric and water networks, enhancing energy production from renewable energy resources, paying attention to the protection of water resources, and technological innovation applied to infrastructure management.

Our position as a benchmark multi-utility company for central and southern Italy increases our sense of responsibility towards this area. We intend to strengthen our role in the energy transition process via development projects designed to enhance the resilience of our distribution network with a view to supporting the growing demand for electricity and distributed generation.

The initiatives in this area will involve above all the technological evolution of the grid, with digitalisation projects through remote control and IoT (Internet of Things) systems and the installation of second-generation smart meters.
We are supporting a new network distribution approach intended to optimise operations. We are leading the Italian pilot for the “PlatOne” project, the European project that will enable energy flexibility mechanisms, and have developed the RomeFlex pilot project , with a view to creating a market for the flexibility of the electricity grid in the Rome area.

We aim to increase our energy output from renewable sources, particularly from photovoltaic plants, by expanding our portfolio with approximately 750 MW of installed capacity by the end of 2024.

We are committed to the development of electric mobility: by 2024 we plan to install over 2,200 charging stations with a view to contributing more and more effectively to the energy transition and decarbonisation processes. The implementation of charging stations is being handled by Acea Innovation, the Group company concerned with the operation of charging infrastructures (Charge Point Operator). We are also present in the area of charging services via the Acea e-mobility app allowing electric vehicles to be charged at over 10,000 authorised points throughout the national territory. We are also investing in development of the “smart service” offering to strengthen our relationship with customers through the provision of value added services, such as those associated with energy efficiency, and the installation of residential photovoltaic facilities.

From a circular economy perspective, we aim to further enhance our presence in the waste recovery sector, positioning ourselves as a key waste-to-material operator, for example in the treatment and recycling of paper and plastic. Our commitment concerns projects such as Acea Smart Comp, an innovative zero kilometre composting system for the management of organic waste, which is transformed into compost directly in the place where it is produced.

We shall also continue to pursue our growth path in the gas distribution sector, via acquisitions and by participating in local tenders.

Ecological transition at the centre of Acea’s ten-year plan

We have embarked on a path for the definition of an ecological transition plan to identify the projects whereby Acea will effectively contribute to the achievement of goals set by the European Union, such as the 55 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.

Our geographical presence

With more than 10,000 professionals, Acea controls its activities in a number of different Italian regions.
Data as at 2022

2020-2024 Business Plan

Our 2020-2024 Business Plan provides provides for an upturn in infrastructural investments, with close attention to the communities where we operate, technological innovation, operating efficiency and sustainability. Acea, being ever focused on territorial conservation, places increasing emphasis on sustainability as fundamental factor for growth and value creation. Of the total 4.7 billion Euro set aside by the 2020-2024 Business Plan, 2.1 billion refer to specific sustainability targets. The true change of pace concerns the precise measurement of their progress in relation to our businesses.

In particular, the targets concern:

  • Protection of water resources, via network interventions to reduce leaks;
  • Electricity service quality, for improved resilience of the mains grid;
  • Smart city, with the installation of charging stations and digital meters;
  • Circular economy, via waste management and recovery;
  • Green energy, with the generation of electricity from photovoltaic plants;
  • Growth in GDP and employment: we estimate that the transactions put in place by the Acea Group during the Plan’s time frame will have a positive impact on Italian GDP for approximately 6 billion Euro, directly or indirectly generating employment for over 21 thousand people.

The Business Plan and the Sustainability Plan are tangible evidence of two processes that now follow an even more common path and logic. The objectives of the two Plans are fully consistent and promote a vision of industrial development that takes account of sustainability issues and stakeholder expectations.

We are committed to providing a top quality service for citizens, to training and developing the skills of our staff, to promoting a culture of occupational safety, to pursuing a model of circular economy and innovation at the service of our business.


Innovation acts as a lever for the transversal development of all the Group’s operations.
We encourage a widespread innovation culture by involving all our people in internal projects, at the same time setting up partnerships at domestic and international level in order to identify new business opportunities.

Solidity, innovation, growth potential, sustainability, operational excellence, customer focus and concrete results: these are the values that characterise our daily work.

2.1
B €
related to sustainability targets
615
mln €
for investments in innovation included in the plan
2.2
B €
for water sector investments in the Plan
1.3
B €
for energy infrastructure investments included in the Plan

Our Business Plan is based on:

  1. Industrial growth: we intend to strengthen both our water and our electricity infrastructures and make them progressively more resilient and innovative with an increasingly customer-oriented approach
  2. Sustainability and care for the local community: we intend to rise to the challenges in our sector, for example by reducing water leaks, encouraging decarbonisation and promoting circular economy (recovery of energy and raw materials), via an increasingly sustainable approach based on dialogue with the local community. We aim to pursue growth in the sector of green energy sources, such as photovoltaic plants, and step up our commitment to electric mobility with a view to contributing more and more effectively to the energy transition process
  3.  Technological innovation: we intend to improve the efficiency of our processes and infrastructure digitalisation via technological innovations, from a "Smart Grid" and "Smart City" perspective.
  4. Operational efficienty: we intend to improve our performance by managing costs and investments that will allow us to support our growth.

We aim to focus with increasingly greater emphasis on five specific actionable levers that are reflected in the acronym GRIDS:

  • Growth: deliver continued growth
  • Renewables: increase the development of renewables 
  • Innovation: push on technological innovation also in industrial processes
  • Delivery: achieve ambitious targets and exceed them 
  • Sustainability: with an approach that sees sustainable development as a cornerstone.

Highlights

Discover the latest news and initiatives of the Acea Group