Transport and logistics, another 2.5 billion from CDP: the projects
In addition to the 3 billion in investments in 2023 to support Italian infrastructure development plans, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti plans to further strengthen this injection of resources in 2024. “The past year has been crucial for CDP in supporting the country’s large infrastructure projects”, underlines Carlo Lamari, head of infrastructure at CDP. “We have achieved the expected investment result and may even have exceeded it, according to the data we are examining. The investment trend remains stable, so we expect to reach similar figures in 2024,” adds Lamari. This is reported by Affari&Finanza. In line with CDP’s strategy, which identifies the “Transport and logistics hubs” sector as a priority, the development of the transport system has received the largest part of the financing, equal to approximately 70% of the total committed, corresponding to approximately 2.5 billion.
“40% of these resources were allocated to projects to improve roads, railways and airports in Southern Italy, carefully selected among the proposals”, explains Lamari. “Transport infrastructure plays a key role in the socio-economic development of the area, significantly influencing economic growth. An efficient network of roads, motorways, railways and airports facilitates the movement of goods, facilitating trade and contributing to economic growth. Investments in this sector have a positive impact on social cohesion and quality of life”, he underlines Lamari, illustrating the philosophy of operations. A distinctive aspect of CDP’s approach is the collaboration with the banking system to attract different sources of financing and maximize private investments. In 2023, one of the main objectives for CDP’s infrastructure sector was to increase the number of transactions, especially structured and project finance ones, intervening from the initial stages of projects. Among the operations with the greatest impact is the “Bei-Cdp Linked Risk Sharing” counter-guarantee agreement, which facilitated investments in projects for the modernization and construction of the high-speed railway on the Palermo-Catania line. The entry into operation of this line will lead to a reduction in travel times by 33%, connecting the cities in two hours, with significant benefits for the economic, social and sustainable development of Sicily.
“In the road sector, for example, we supported Sitaf’s projects for the upgrading of the A32 Turin-Bardonecchia motorway, improving road safety through interventions on bridges, viaducts and tunnels along the 80 kilometers of route”, says Lamari. “Furthermore, we financed the project with Saaa to expand, guarantee safety and ease traffic on the Alto Adriatico motorway: in particular, we financed the works to complete the third lane of the A4 Venice-Trieste motorway, a crucial node in the connection with Eastern Europe”. Airports represent another important chapter: “AWe have financed Gesac, the concessionaire company for the airports of Naples and Salerno, to support new investments in sustainability and innovation at Naples international airport”. Furthermore, interventions to modernize the country in terms of energy transition were financed, such as the financing of the network of BeCharge charging stations, a company of the Eni group, and the renewal of the bus fleet in collaboration with Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna. Starting from this year, CDP will expand its range of action by accelerating on the Risk Sharing front: “This means involving international financial operators who do not currently operate in this market, to support infrastructure projects,” says Lamari.
“Furthermore, we will extend the European guarantee to rail transport and similar sectors that do not currently benefit from it.” In 2023, CDP was the first among the National Promotional Banks to use the European guarantee system InvestEU for infrastructure projects, after having also played an important role at European level in advisory and guarantees. An example of intervention is the construction of the Adriatic Network by Snam, a new backbone for the transport of gas approximately 700 kilometers long: CDP has provided the necessary resources to start the project with a loan of 300 million euros and is evaluating further investments in similar projects. The Adriatic Network will bring over 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year along the South-North route, a network that can be converted for transport of hydrogen thanks to the use of H2-ready materials.