Awards

CESEF, the Centre of Economy and Management Studies for Energy Efficiency, presented its Energy Efficiency Award for the "Best idea for an energy efficiency project in the industrial sector" to Hera, RSE and Galletti Group, a company with a long history in the field of air conditioning in Italy.

In particular, the implementation of the project, which involves the use of heat pumps in an industrial application (uncommon in this sector), led to a design for a plant owned by a multinational in the chemical and food sector. The installation of these machines will be fundamental, since they will enable the recovery of low-temperature heat, that otherwise would be dispersed in the atmosphere, from the process water used to cool the plants, thus significantly reducing primary energy usage.

Thanks to the design work carried out by Hera's Energy Management department, together with RSE and the Galletti Group, the measure was able to fall within the incentive mechanism of Energy Efficiency Bonds so that by obtaining the subsidy, the time to recoup the investment was shortened, placing it within parameters acceptable to the companies. The synergy of the cross-functional skills of the many players involved proved to be successful and made it possible to achieve a concrete result.

The measure is part of a broader collaboration plan initiated by the Hera Group with its two project partners, to promote energy efficiency by identifying and developing "models" and technologies to apply to a range of industrial contexts.

During the CESEF 2018 Workshop in Milan the Under-secretary for Economic Development Davide Crippa presented the Energy Efficiency Awards which are intended to promote the best practices of the sector and to support the development of the energy efficiency market.

Since 2004, Hera has presented over 150 projects in collaboration with industrial plants located throughout Italy, which in the period generated a total number of Energy Efficiency Bonds (EEBs) equal to about 450,000 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent).

The Hera Group pursues a policy aimed at increasing energy efficiency in all of its activities. The 170 projects completed by the end of 2017 have made it possible to reduce the Group's consumption by over 8,000 toe/year, amounting to 3.6% of its 2013 consumption, far exceeding its original target of 3%. In the light of the positive results achieved, we raised our target to 5% by 2020.

The Group's commitment to energy efficiency, therefore, has not just started now and, above all, it is directed both inside and outside the Group. Some Group companies are entirely devoted to these objectives. For example Hera Servizi Energia, which aims primarily at meeting the needs of condominiums, companies and the Public Administration, and ASE, which operates in the field of total facility management, providing energy services, managing and maintaining technical systems.

Thanks to the strategies it has adopted over the years, the Hera Group is the forerunner on energy efficiency among utilities. It is addressing this topic with increasingly innovative solutions, both on process control systems and on plants, and is in line with the objectives the Italian Government set out in its "Industry 4.0" plan and with the foundations of this philosophy, launched a few years ago in Germany, of which one of the fundamental pillars is "efficient use of resources".

"It is with gratitude and pride that we have received this award, that confirms our commitment in the field of energy efficiency, which is strategic to deal with the problems related to climate change and with environmental protection - said Cristian Fabbri, Group Market Manager of Hera. Thanks to significant collaborations, such as the one started with RSE and Galletti Group, we can bring together skills capable of breaking down the barriers that still exist in the industrial sector and that make it more difficult to apply effective solutions to achieve concrete efficiency goals".

The Centre of Economy and Management Studies for Energy Efficiency (CESEF) was established in October 2013 to monitor the energy efficiency sector comprehensively. The Centre's research focuses on industrial, technological, financial and public policy issues related to the implementation of energy-saving measures in the residential, tertiary, industrial and transport sectors. The results of the studies are presented at an Annual Conference, a precious opportunity for networking and communication among companies in the field and policy-makers.