Evolution of the Group

When it was founded on 1 November 2002, Hera became the first instance in Italy of the amalgamation of municipally owned companies, with the aim of creating a single multiutility capable of achieving excellence in services relating to the supply of energy and water, and the collection and treatment of waste.
During the first 15 years of its existence, following a logic of focussing primarily on contiguous areas, the Hera Group has doubled its size by incorporating other companies already working in the same fields, and now has a total of almost 9,000 employees.
The first transactions date back to 2004, when the multiutility acquired the Ferrara-based company Agea, the Ravenna Ecological Centre from Ambiente Spa, a company of the Eni Group, and 39% of SET from Rätia Energie AG. Following this the multiutility company Meta, based in Modena, was integrated into the group in 2005. This was followed in 2006 by the incorporation of Geat Distribuzione Gas in Riccione and the purchase of 46.5% of SAT in Modena.
Following the sale of Megas of Urbino to Hera, in 2007, Hera Comm Marche was established; subsequently Hera participated in the merger between Megas and Aspes of Pesaro, giving rise to Marche Multiservizi.
In 2009, the Group created Herambiente, a company that, with its wide range of first class facilities, manages the integrated waste cycle, and it acquired 25% of the Modena-based company AIMAG.
Hera further broadened its horizons in 2013, obtaining a foothold in Triveneto with its entry into the Acegas-Aps Group, which operates in Padua and Trieste. Completing this first phase, in 2014 it bought the Udine-based company Amga and set up AcegasApsAmga. The year 2013 also saw the establishment of Herambiente Servizi Industriali, a company that offers solutions for the management of industrial waste.
Hera Servizi Energia, specialists in energy efficiency services, was established in 2015. In the same year, the Abruzzo-based Alento Gas, Waste Recycling of Pisa and some environmental branches of the Treviso-based Geo Nova entered the Group.
Hera consolidated its presence in Abruzzo in 2016, when Julia Servizi Più of Teramo and Gran Sasso of Aquila joined the Group. Still in 2016, two new companies were established: INRETE Distribuzione Energia, created to manage the distribution of natural gas and electrical power, and HERAtech, which deals with connections, technical advice, urban infrastructure and other work.
In 2017, Herambiente completed the acquisition of the Treviso-based Aliplast from Aligroup Srl, an example of Italian excellence in the collection, recycling and regeneration of plastic waste.
Today, Hera is the number 1 operator in the Environmental sector, number 2 in integrated water cycle management, number 3 in the supply of gas and number 5 in the supply of electrical power and it serves over 4.4 million residents in more than 350 towns across Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Marche, Tuscany and Veneto.