Italgas, on Wednesday, June 15, pledged it would invest $9 billion (€8.6 billion) by 2028 to modernize the gas grid in Greece and complete the upgrade of its local Italian network.

Italy’s largest gas distributor expected this year’s sales to exceed $1.46 billion (€1.4 billion) from $1.43 billion (€1.37 billion) last year and adjusted core earnings to hit $1.05-1.08 billion (€1-1.03 billion), excluding DEPA Infrastructure’s contribution.

Italgas, which agreed to buy state-owned Greek gas distributor DEPA Infrastructure last year, is looking to finalize the acquisition in the coming month as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushes European countries to look for alternative ways to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.

In its multi-year strategy for energy RePowerEU, the European Commission plans to substitute 50% of the bloc’s gas import from Russia with renewable gases, hydrogen, and biomethane as the company aims to make its grid more flexible to help Italy boost the use of the gas.

 “The largest share of the investment is destined for the extension, digital transformation, and repurposing of the distribution network to create the conditions for widespread use of the new gases, such as biomethane, green hydrogen, and synthetic methane,” said Italgas CEO Paolo Gallo.

The business plan, which runs until 2028, will see the gas distributor invest $4.7 billion (€4.5 billion) in Italy and $1.9 billion (€1.8 billion) in Greece by 2028. The company had planned an $8.3 billion (€7.9 billion) investment in the previous business plan.

Italgas also plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions Scope 1 and 2 by 34% and reduce power consumption by 27% by 2028 to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2050. The company also said it would carry out selected mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the water sector.