In the 2025 utility sector maintains levels of investment high, but it changes pace. Less indiscriminate expansion, more selectivity. Strategies focus on networks, of your digital ecosystem. of supplies and resilience of infrastructure, in a context marked by energy transition, financial constraints and increasing operational complexity.
This is the picture that emerges from Utilities Report 2026, presented in Milan during the CFO Utilities Conference organized by act, In collaboration with Accenture e Intesa Sanpaolo - Imi Corporate & Investment Banking Division.
Utilities, Investments: Multi-utility Down, Green Energy Boom
In 2025 the multiutilities invest overall about 5 billion of euros, down 14% compared to 2024. The decline is linked to the failure of extraordinary operations that had characterized the previous year. Net of these effects, organic investments grew by 10%, with resources primarily allocated to renewables, networks, water, and the environment, also thanks to the progress of the NRRP projects.
I groups energetic instead show an expansive dynamic: the investments rise to 7,8 billion of euros, up 16% on an annual basis. Spending is concentrated on a few large operators and is mainly directed towards networks (67%) and the development of sources renewable (18%), with an increase of 2,3 GW of installed renewable capacity compared to 2024.
Even more marked is the growth of network operators, which in 2025 is expected to reach €7,9 billion in investments, up 21% from the previous year. Both the strengthening of infrastructure and M&A transactions, which have expanded the sector's industrial scope, are contributing factors.
Networks are also at the centre of future plans
I industrial plans confirm the centrality of infrastructures In the medium term. Multiutilities plan to invest €25 billion between 2026 and 2030, with the majority of the investment going to networks (32%).
Energy groups plan approximately €29 billion by 2030, of which 44% will go to networks and 20% to renewables. Grid operators remain the most dynamic, with €37 billion in investments planned through 2031.
The same orientation emerges at the level eclecticism: in the period 2026-2030, investments by the main integrated Gas & Power groups are estimated at 188,7 billion euros, with 61% concentrated in networks.
Revenues are growing, but margins are under pressure.
On the economic-financial front, the data processed by Intesa Sanpaolo Imi Cib They indicate that the Italian sample is expected to see revenues grow by 5%, from 71,2 billion euros in 2024 to 74,7 billion in 2025. The EBITDA overall is estimated at 17,9 billion (+2,1%), but the marginality drops from 24,6% to 23,9%. Also increasing the useful net, reaching 6,4 billion euros (+2,5%).
But it is also on the rise the debt financial, expected to reach 66 billion euros, with an increase of 15,4% compared to 2024, a sign of ambitious but more financially costly investment plans.
In Europe, aggregate revenues are estimated to decline slightly, from 597,8 billion euros in 2024 to 594,5 billion in 2025, while overall net profit remains essentially stable at 48,7 billion euros.
Comments
“The Utilities Report 2026 paints a picture of a sector that, in the year just ended, has moved in a less uniform and more selective manner, with investment choices increasingly tied to the industrial and operational specificities of individual operators, in an economic context that continues to require a delicate balance between decarbonisation objectives, safety and economic sustainability,” he underlined. Marco Carta, CEO of Agici, highlighting how in 2026 the ability to execute will be crucial, rather than the amount of investments announced.
An orientation also shared by Intesa Sanpaolo: Andrea Mayr, Head of Client Coverage & Advisory for the IMI CIB Division, emphasized the "centrality of energy infrastructure" for the competitiveness, resilience, and integration of renewables, emphasizing the role of M&A transactions in consolidating the sector. "Intesa Sanpaolo has always been committed to supporting operators in their investment and growth paths, contributing to the development of sustainable infrastructure and the solidity of the energy system," he concluded.
On the financial front, Richard Volpati, CFO & Enterprise Value Lead at Accenture, highlighted how increasing debt is accompanied by increasingly ambitious investment plans, making the challenge of "investing better" a central one for CFOs, while maintaining economic and financial balance over time "in a framework that requires discipline, flexibility and execution capacity."
