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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €460 million loan to Hera Group. The main goals of the financing are to strengthen the resilience of integrated water services, increase the production of renewable energy, foster energy efficiency, decarbonisation and the circular economy, and bolster waste processing and collection, all in order to support Hera Group’s areas of operation on their path to a sustainable environmental transition and help combat climate change. This EU bank loan will finance over 60 Hera Group projects aligned with the EU taxonomy and in line with the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda, helping the communities served by the Italian multi-utility on their path to a green transition closely connected to local society and industry. The EIB financing will therefore cover almost 60% of the total value of these investments (over €800 million) already planned by the company in its 2022-2026 industrial plan. Operations will mainly take place in Emilia-Romagna, but also in other areas served such as Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In concrete terms, the EU bank resources will contribute to improving integrated water services via operations to further cut losses and renew rainwater collection and wastewater treatment facilities. Hera Group will increase its capacity for processing, recycling, and recovering waste by renovating existing collection centres and building new, cutting-edge plants for recycling plastic and carbon fibre and for the pre-treatment and storage of industrial waste. The EIB financing will also enable Hera Group to install over 370 000 second-generation smart meters in the regions concerned, as well as develop district heating and combined heat and power systems and build photovoltaic plants — even small-scale ones — to increase renewable energy production. Almost 40% of the EIB-financed investments will be made in the parts of Emilia-Romagna that were hit the hardest by the recent floods. The financed operations will improve the resilience of water services to future extreme weather events, including via the construction of underground rainwater collection tanks in areas of the Romagna coast subject to high hydrogeological risk. Elsewhere, a number of measures will be taken to make the sewerage network more resilient to flooding. The financing announced today is part of the REPowerEU initiative supported by the EIB, which will invest an additional €30 billion over the next five years to unlock €115 billion, promoting the green transition and gradually reducing Europe's dependence on fossil fuels. For further information Press release primo_piano (1).png The EIB loan will help improve the resilience of the integrated water cycle, energy efficiency and the management of environmental services in the areas served by Hera new_sede_hera_110.jpg

Only two months after the establishment of Horowatt, a NewCo between Hera Group and Orogel that within 2024 will create an innovative and sustainable agrivoltaic plant in the agricultural cooperative’s Cesena facilities, Hera’s programme for developing cutting-edge integrated solutions in the field of clean energy is making rapid progress. Hera Group finalised the acquisition of Tiepolo Srl, owned by Combigas and Greenfield Renewables (each one holding 50% of the shares), which has developed a project for constructing a solar park in Bondeno (Ferrara) capable of meeting the needs of over 5,000 households. The plant, which will have a capacity of 8.9 megawatts and will generate approximately 13 GWh/year when fully operational, is one of the Hera Group’s numerous projects aimed at producing renewable energy and already included in the Business Plan to 2026, to support citizens, businesses and public administrations in the decarbonisation and electrification of their consumption. In order to make a significant contribution to reducing climate-changing gas emissions in all localities served and accompany them towards carbon neutrality, the Group has not only allocated significant investments for the energy transition in its Business Plan but has also set up a new business unit entirely dedicated to renewable energy production and energy management. For further information Press release acquisizionetiepolo_870.png This transaction represents a major new commitment made by the Group to promote the energy transition and decarbonisation in the areas it serves sede-hera-110.jpg

Acting through our subsidiary Hera Comm, we finalised the acquisition of 60% of Fratelli Franchini. Based in Rimini, this company has a consolidated experience in the area of designing, installing and providing maintenance of all types of technological systems for companies, public administrations and hospitality facilities. It has been active for over 17 years in producing high-yield renewable energy sources for public and private industrial customers throughout Italy. The remaining 40% of the company stays in the hands of Franchini Group Srl, owned by brothers Pierpaolo and Marco Franchini, who retain the position of CEOs. This partnership with a long-standing operator, active both locally and nationally, will enable us to acquire new technical skills, particularly in the photovoltaic market, expand its portfolio of solutions for business customers, and respond to the growing demand for systems based on renewable sources, further strengthening its position in the Italian energy market. The details of the partnership Fratelli Franchini boasts over half a century of activity in the system engineering sector: since 1959 it has been building technological systems and since 2006 it has also been working in the renewable energy sector, developing projects for business clients in the hotel, port, hospital, industrial, retail and museum sectors. This company is the partner of choice for clients in the industrial sector, both public and private, to whom it is able to offer integrated solutions in all phases necessary for installing and maintaining of electrical, mechanical, large-scale photovoltaic and energy efficiency systems. It has installed more than 300 systems over the years. This operation boosts our ability to support our customers along the path to decarbonisation, including through the installation of photovoltaic generation systems, from traditional photovoltaic panel systems to new distributed power generation models such as Renewable Energy Communities. For further information Press release Partnership Hera-Franchini_870.JPG We acquired 60% of the long-standing Rimini-based company, a reference point for technological systems and renewable energy throughout Italy Partnership Hera-Franchini_110.jpg

Among Italy’s top companies for the last three years, we rank second in 2023 thanks to our full and deliberate integration of sustainability policies into its business strategies and governance structure. This has been confirmed by the Integrated Governance Index, the main quantitative index measuring the integration of ESG factors in the governance of the top 100 Italian listed companies, managed by ETicaNews. Local roots and focus on ESG objectives are one of our hallmarks, showing that we have always been committed to giving full value to people, thus generating a tangible impact and helping the communities served move towards a more equitable future in environmental, economic and social terms. The Group’s sustainable growth is, in fact, the result of a business model that always considers the generation of value as the cornerstone of our relations with all stakeholders, from the local ecosystem and future generations to customers, shareholders, workers and suppliers. Sustainability at the heart of our strategies Ever since the Group was founded, the full and deliberate integration of sustainability in our business strategies has been one of the key elements enabling us to meet all its challenges, because for Hera growth and sustainable development necessarily go hand in hand. This path has been built over time, starting from the Group’s corporate culture: in 2016 we were among the first companies to report shared-value Ebitda, which was later explicitly included in the Business plan and in the management incentive system. This commitment is also shown by the launch, in April 2023, of the second Sustainability-Linked Bond and the activation of a new credit line, the Sustainability-Linked Revolving Credit Facility, thanks to which we will allocate more than 1 billion in financing for projects moving towards the green transition. For further information Press release primo_piano_IGI_2023_870.png We achieve second place in the overall ranking published by the index measuring the degree to which ESG factors are integrated within the governance of Italy’s top 100 listed companies centrata IGI_2023_110.jpg