Poste Italiane’s green plan and its implementation, as well as its landing on the energy market, are the subject of extensive coverage in the daily newspaper La Stampa in a special issue dedicated to corporate sustainability.
The green plan and carbon neutrality
The article states that “Poste Italiane’s green plan runs faster than the targets set by the EU as 98% of the group’s electricity needs already come from renewable sources. One of the highlights is the 2024 Sustain & Innovate Plus strategic plan, which includes replacing the vehicle fleet with 28,000 green vehicles with electric, hybrid, and endothermic propulsion, to cut emissions by 140%”. Below are the words of CEO Matteo Del Fante: “From the point of view of environmental impact, we made clear commitments with the launch of the plan. We will therefore go even faster in reaching our targets. We will have a 40% reduction in emissions from our fleet by 2025, and we will continue to build and use renewables to power sorting centres, factories, offices, and post offices. We are becoming zero-impact”.
Green columns for Poste
La Stampa also mentions the company’s project to install around 6,000 recharging stations and set up zero-emission delivery areas, using a fleet of fully electric vehicles: “The results of this policy,”‘ it reads, “‘are obvious. Poste Italiane went from 11% green vehicles in 2016 to 15% in 2021. As of 30 June 2022, the company has introduced about 12,000 new vehicles, of which about 770 are electric, 6,000 hybrid, and the remainder low-emission. In addition, the number of electric charging stations increased to 2,800. The new green fleet will lead to a reduction in CO2 equal to around 80,000 trees. Starting in 2018, Poste Italiane has promoted the new green evolution plan model for the company fleet and the Joint Delivery plan, two company strategies that have brought benefits in terms of sustainability”. Here are the figures for an investment in green policies that have made Poste Italiane a leader in the sector with 952 electric tricycles and 350 quadricycles by 2021, in addition to 3,800 thermal tricycles.
Real estate efficiency
Furthermore, La Stampa states that, “Poste Italiane is also introducing smart building solutions at its properties (around 2,000 buildings), with the aim of cutting the energy consumed by around 8 GWh by 2025. Additionally, 91,000 new LED lights were installed using LED in 2021, involving over 400 buildings and reaching 78% of locations in terms of impact on consumption. During the first half of 2022, 410,000 LED lights were installed, more than 450 buildings became part of the Smart Building project, and over 40 photovoltaic panels were set up”. The project to promote renewable sources calls for the development of around 400 photovoltaic plants on the roofs of owned properties for a total of 18 MWp and around 25 GWh/y of production when fully operational, for a total investment of around €31.5 million, 13 of which invested in 2021.
Landing on the energy market
In the second in-depth article, La Stampa focuses on the entry into the energy market through the subsidiary PostePay. The article reads: “The Poste Energia offer was launched in June for the group’s over 120,000 employees and pensioners, and it will be available on the free market by the end of the year. In just a few weeks, the offer has already been activated by around 10,000 employees. In line with its growth strategy and the 24SI Plus business plan, Poste Italiane’s offer is 100% green. Electricity is certified, through a guarantee of origin, as being fed into the grid and produced by plants fuelled 100% by renewable sources, and carbon dioxide emissions from gas are 100% offset by supporting programmes with a positive impact on the environment. This is done by purchasing carbon credits that attest to participation in international projects aimed eliminating or reducing greenhouse gases”.
The Poste Energia model
The article then explains the Poste Italiane model: “Poste Energia will allow customers to choose between two different payment methods: variable amounts depending on consumption during the billing month, or fixed instalments, for which the bill will be the same every month for each contractual year and will be updated after 365 days based on actual consumption. If, after twelve months, the customer has consumed less than in the previous year, the monthly payment amount will be lowered while, if they have consumed more, the monthly payment will increase”. Poste Italiane’s goal is to become one of Italy’s largest suppliers by 2025 and to reach 600,000 customers by 2023, reaching 1 million in 2024 and 1.5 million in 2025, with an investment of €16 million in 2021. Operating break-even is expected in 2024, while a positive operating result is expected from 2025.
