CVA: Renewable sources value chain in the experience of a leading hydroelectric player in Italy

Abstract

This chapter describes the changes undertaken by a leading hydroelectric company in Italy since its foundation in the year 2001. The common thread of regulatory developments will lead us through the diachronic journey that has characterized the European and national scenario from a nationalized sector to liberalised electric markets. The Company timeline has its origin back to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the emergence of the steel industry, which required a large amount of energy, hence the development of hydroelectric power plants in the Aosta Valley. It is nearly a century later when the regional government acquired the entire share capital of a company owning three hydroelectric power plants in the region, changing its name in “Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque”. By the end of the twentieth century the incumbent state-owned operator sold to the regional government 26 hydroelectric plants located in the Region. Over 20 years CVA has extended to wind and solar sources, becoming the 6th Italian producer of total RES sources and the 4th of hydroelectric source. In 2019 the Company has published its first sustainability report, embracing decarbonisation strategies and innovation with a number of initiatives.