Milan: A2A opens new Comasina main substation – a 38 million investment
It is the fourth to be built in the city since 2022, bringing the total to 16: 45 per cent more than in 2020. The infrastructure meets the needs of the growing electrification of consumption
The new Comasina primary substation, built by Unareti – a company within the A2A Group – has come into service as part of the plan to develop and upgrade Milan’s electricity network. The substation is one of the key nodes in the infrastructure that receive high-voltage power and convert it to medium voltage, feeding it into urban centres and optimising the management of the local electricity system.
“Milan boasts one of the highest densities of electricity demand per square kilometre in Europe, and its demand is set to grow as electrification and digitalisation continue. That is why our strategy focuses on increasingly efficient, flexible and smart networks, capable of supporting the city’s development: the Comasina primary substation is a prime example of this,” commented Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of A2A, who attended the inauguration. “Over the last five years, we have allocated around 800 million euros to the renewal and expansion of the distribution infrastructure, modernising the urban grid and strengthening its capacity to support growing loads. This is a further step – and not the last – in A2A’s commitment to Milan. There are still 2 billion in investments planned up to 2035 for the city itself alone.”
“The opening of the new main substation in the Comasina district is a further step towards strengthening the local electricity grid and demonstrates A2A’s concrete commitment to the city,” added Elena Grandi, Councillor for the Environment at Milan City Council. “ This strategic infrastructure will improve the quality of service, whilst also reducing the risk of grid overloads and promoting greater efficiency and sustainability. Furthermore, a new primary substation will, in future, simplify the set-up for a new community-based energy scheme, contributing even more to Milan’s energy transition.”
With an investment of over 38 million euros, the Comasina facility will enable the rationalisation of the load distribution currently borne by other substations, supporting their operations and ensuring the quality and continuity of the service, the company explained: the new configuration brings the infrastructure closer to users and improves load distribution across the lines, reducing network losses. The additional back-feed points will also help to reduce the incidence of faults and speed up the restoration of service.
The overall project also involves the upgrading of 71 kilometres of medium-voltage network and the reinforcement of 27 secondary substations, benefiting almost 100,000 customers in the north-western part of the city. With the Comasina substation coming into operation, the number of primary substations built by Unareti since 2022 rises to four (Rozzano, San Cristoforo, Mugello and Comasina). By the end of the year, the Scalo di Porta Romana substation will be added, bringing the total to 16 – a 45 per cent increase compared with 2020.
