Snam Digitizes Gas Distribution Network with Next-Generation Cisco Technologies

News Summary:

Ultra-performing network will connect 38,000 km gas network, approximately 1,600 control points, 13 compression plants and nine storage sites using Cisco Routed Optical Networking technology.

New network will provide forty times more capacity than current infrastructure.

Using next-generation technologies, this strategic project will benefit from increased security and reliability, whilst supporting sustainability by significantly reducing energy consumption, and delivering 4x higher capacity.

MILANO, Italy, June 26th 2023 – Snam and Cisco today announced the next step in their collaboration, which started in 2010. The two companies are working together to deliver a new multi-service optical network, to be implemented by 2024. This new network will more quickly and effectively connect the control and monitoring points of the national gas distribution infrastructure. Data collected via the network will be used to remotely manage the infrastructure and to provide, through algorithms, advanced services such as the predictive maintenance of plants.

The new-generation optical network will be built with Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking (RON) technology with a bandwidth capacity of 400 Gigabits/second. This is forty times more than the current network capacity which is based on legacy non-coherent Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology.

Benefits of Routed Optical Networking

The performance of this new multi-service network is comparable to the performance of networks operated by large telecommunications providers. It offers a single infrastructure and will support Snam in several ways:

Control and Management: Securely transport and make available the data necessary to remotely control the gas transportation backbone infrastructure (approximately 12,000 km of main gas pipelines and 1,630 control points scattered throughout Italy).

Collect data from the Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors and transmit them into the monitoring and management systems.

Strengthen the proprietary communication network that Snam uses for its business activities, connecting about one hundred locations across the country.

Data will be delivered securely to Snam’s two data centers, its headquarters and the Cloud. From a cybersecurity perspective, the solution allows critical information to be transported over the network in a unidirectional way, only to the equipment and nodes that actually need to receive it.

“Connectivity infrastructures represent an essential element for our operations. With Cisco, we have found a strategic technology provider that has accompanied us with technologies and people in a deep transformation journey, knowing how to balance innovation, sustainability and security.”
—Giorgio Veronesi, Senior Vice President for Digital Technologies and Innovation, Snam

The new network has the potential to expand to include additional services in the future for Snam and its strategic partners. From a cybersecurity perspective, the solution allows critical information to be transported over the network in a unidirectional way, only to the equipment and nodes that need to receive it.

A Network that Consumes Less energy and Is Ready for the Future of the Industry

An infrastructure as large and complex as Snam’s is made up of numerous data transport and routing devices. With Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking, the larger optical platform is now contained in a small form factor optic, dramatically reduced in size and power, and can now be put directly into a router port. This simplifies the entire network architecture, reduces the number of devices to be powered and as a result significantly reduces energy consumption per gigabyte of data transported.

“A big part of the national electricity consumption is generated by gas. Therefore, this deployment is an essential step to address the evolving needs of citizens and businesses in Italy, whilst Snam’s focus on sustainability is good for the future of our planet. Cisco’s hardware and software technologies can help enable efficient, continuous and secure operation. The complete digitization of the gas transport infrastructure provides the information and tools to help manage a high level of complexity in a secure manner, and at the same time accelerate the energy transition that Snam is pursuing, for example through research into the use of hydrogen.”
—Gianmatteo Manghi, General Manager of Cisco Italy

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