Highlights in 2017
New clean energy innovation policies and/or strategies
The Italian Government launched in November 2017 a new National Energy Strategy (NES). NES 2017 is based on evidence, input and contributions that emerged in national and international meetings and a broad public consultation. The reference scenario has been elaborated considering the trend of the EU and national energy context by 2030 and 2050. NES 2017 also promotes technology innovation to support energy transition by means of doubling of public funds for cleantech research according to the Mission Innovation initiative. Italy committed to double public funds for R&D for clean energy from 222 Million Euro in 2013 to 444 Million Euro in 2021.
The Italian Government also launched at the end of 2017 the National Strategy for Sustainable Development which promotes energy for development with appropriate and sustainable technologies optimized for local contexts, especially in rural areas, support for the development of enabling policies and regulatory mechanisms leading to a modernization of energy governance.
Top clean energy innovation successes in 2017
- The Ministry of Economic Development has approved the 2017 year-plan of the National Electric System Research Fund. The resources allocated amount to approximately EUR 95.5 million. ENEA, CNR and RSE are the leading public research institutions involved. A call-for-proposals for the private sector is also foreseen on a co-funding basis. The activities are aimed at innovating and improving the performance of the system in terms of economics, safety and the environment. The programme’s coverage ranges from system governance to R&D and deployment of renewable technologies, electric transmission and end-use. It is financed through a specific component of the end-user electricity price.
- The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) has approved in 2017 the National Energy Technology Cluster which supports RD&D as well as technology transfer in the Energy Area. The Cluster aims at combining the demand for innovation from the industrial sector with the offer of innovation coming from the research structures of the country, supporting the achievement of the expected targets in terms of research planning from the European SET-Plan, the NES and the participation in Mission Innovation. Two project lines are foreseen: The development of innovative technologies for energy transformations and storage, in particular for Concentrated Solar Plants (CSP), and Smart grids. The leading Agency is ENEA with more than 80 stakeholders involved from industries, R&D organisations, universities.
- The Ministry of Economic Development has launched in 2017 a Call for proposals on the electrical infrastructures for the development of smart grids for energy distribution in the territories of the least developed regions of Italy. The resources allocated amount to EUR 80 million. The Call foresees a series of interventions aimed at creating smart grids for energy distribution and directly increasing the distribution of energy produced from renewable sources, as well as storage systems for energy produced by renewables.
Top activities delivered in support of the Innovation Challenges in 2017
- Bilateral programs/collaboration agreements with India and China launched on Nov. 2017 in the field of Smart Grids Innovation Challenge.
- A 3.7 M€ funding programme for tests and experimental activities for the assessment of the environmental impact of the biofuel emissions , as well as the expected benefits from its use in place of traditional fuels in the aviation sector.
- Italy has contributed to the IC7 Workplan with its experience in studies on the energy rehabilitation of the existing park of public buildings aimed at achieving the “nearly zero energy buildings – nZEB”. In particular a few R&D topics have been launched in support of the workplan, such as: advanced heat pumping and heat storage solutions, IoT and cloud computing for predictive maintenance, building-level integration of heating and cooling systems.
Collaborations
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Executive Program for scientific and technological cooperation
Countries: India
Type of collaboration: public-public
Start date: 2017
End date: 2019
Funding amount: €100,000
Inter-Ministerial program of co-funding sceintific cooperation projects between Italy and India.
Cooperation Agreement between Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE) and the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IEECAS)
Countries: China
Type of collaboration: public-public
Start date: 2017
End date: 2020
Funding amount:
Cooperation Agreement on Joint Application for Strategic Key Program for International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation Project of China “Mission Innovation Smart Grids International Environmental Project”.
Cooperation Agreement between Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE) and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee)
Countries: India
Type of collaboration: public-public, public-private
Start date: 2017
End date: 2022
Funding amount: $2M
Cooperation Agreement on Joint Application for Strategic Key Program for International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation Project of Italy “Mission Innovation Smart Grids International Environmental Project”.