(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s electricity grid operator Terna SpA is studying a bid for high-voltage assets worth as much as €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) to tap incentives which are part of a new regulatory framework.

The company carried preliminary studies to purchase more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) of high-voltage power-lines and about 2,200 electricity substations, according to an internal document seen by Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter. 

These assets are mostly owned by Italy’s largest utility Enel SpA’s distribution unit e-distribuzione and by Rome-based multi-utility Acea SpA’s Areti branch, the document shows.

Such a deal would allow state-owned Terna to increase the resilience of its 75,000 kilometers long electricity grid and fit into the €21 billion investment plan it presented last year.

Terna said in a statement there currently it has not started any negotiations for sales or acquisition of assets, but that the Italian regulatory authority for energy and networks encourages distributors to sell some assets functional to the high voltage transmission system.

A representative for Enel said e-distribuzione “isn’t interested in a deal” while a spokesman for Acea declined to comment. 

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The considerations are at a preliminary stage and there’s no guarantee Terna will decide to pursue a transaction, the people said. 

Terna was listed in 2004 and state lender Cassa Depositi e Presisti SpA holds a stake of around 30%.  

--With assistance from Alessandra Migliaccio.

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