With the new 2017-2021 business plan, Alperia aims to grow the group's Ebitda, raising it from 150 million in 2017 to 275 in 2021. This is thanks to the core activities that will give an impetus of 57 million and acceleration policies that will affect for 68 million Euros.

Thanks to a 57 million organic growth for Ebitda, which includes savings from post-merger synergies of about 28 million euro, core assets will register 207 million EBITDA by the end of the plan.

Acceleration activities will affect the Ebitda, as mentioned, of about 68 million Euros the majority of which (78%) will be generated by M & A transactions, the rest (22%) will instead be guaranteed by the development of the Smart Region Business Unit. 

The foreseen investments on a scope of consolidation amounted to € 447 million, up to 863, considering the acceleration activities scheduled in the 2017-2021 business plan. Investments in core activities will be directed to support two main segments, generation (188 million) and networks (159). Acceleration activities, for which investments of 416 million are planned, will instead finance the new initiatives: 319 in new initiatives and 97 for the Smart Region project.

The ratio between the net financial position and Ebitda, despite investments, will remain below 3, reaching 2.2 on scope of consolidation and 2.8 including acceleration activities. The solid financial discipline will guarantee to the managers of the group, among other things, the necessary flexibility in planning investments.

With regard to the dividend policy, the 2017-2021 plan provides for a substantial growing distribution. Already in 2018 a dividend growth is about 40%.The plan is expected to distribute 112 million euros for Core dividends, to which the Acceleration dividends will be added based on relative investments realization.

Alperia five-year Industrial Plan is based on an energy price scenario in line with the other players' prevailing orientation. For 2021 the PUN is expected to be 49.8 euros per Mwh (Megawatt hour): this is 1.2 euros less than the company forecast for every Megawatt hour in 2018.

The scenario hypothesized by Alperia in the new business plan is to provide more cautious assumptions than those foreseen in the previous business plan published in March 2017. At the time, a higher energy price was estimated for 2021 : € 51.9 / MwH.

With estimates renewal, the PUN implemented in 2017-2021 business plan is in line with the general orientation of the most conservative competitors.The companies with the highest forecasts are Iren, who envisions a PUN of € 54.7 / MwH in 2020, and Hera, which considers a price of € 53.2 / MwH in 2021.Enel, on the other hand, is forecasting for 2018, 2019 and 2020 a lower national single price, around 45 euros / MwH. Lastly, A2A has forecasts in line with Alperia and estimates a PUN of € 48.6 / MwH for 2021.

The Smart Region project is one of the main development assets of 2017-2021 Alperia business plan. The South Tyrolean utility plans to invest in the newly formed business unit 97 million Euros over five years and aims to reach the threshold in this area of 15.4 million euro in EBITDA in 2021 (8 million of which from acceleration activities).The total invested over the business plan includes € 26 million Euros for the fiber-optic infrastructure in South Tyrol. 

The first 28 million euros in investments will be realized in 2018, the following year 20 million will be allocated in the Smart Region project, then an additional 23 million in 2020 and finally 26 million Euros in 2021. 

The community will benefit from it.The Smart Region project, in fact, aims to trigger a virtuous circle able to make the territory 'smarter'. Alperia plans to build on the territory the smarter infrastructure that makes it possible to converge public lighting, optical fiber, charging points for electric mobility, IoT sensors and video surveillance, creating an intelligent territory capable of permitting a constant dialogue between the city and its inhabitants.

Alongside the Smart Region project investments that will help digitizing the territory, Alperia, in its industrial plan, has chosen to allocate 16 million euros in pure innovation projects.In the years between 2018-2021 calls will be launched to reward the best start-ups, those that are able to develop innovation projects in harmony with community needs, as well as 10 innovative projects born and realized internally within the Innovation Board.