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A source of clean energy from sewers and wet waste: Biomethane

An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material. 

An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material. And that, once "digested", produce 7.5 million cubic meters of biomethane fuel that is 100% renewable and 20 thousand tonnes of compost.

These numbers tell the success story of our state-of-the-art plant in Sant'Agata Bolognese, just outside Bologna: the latest great and ambitious project to add to our long list of waste treatment facilities (89 in total, including waste-to-energy plants, composters, and sorting plants). With one big goal: to relaunch the challenge of renewables on an industrial scale and make this plant a reference structure for green energy in Europe. 

Biomethane: a clean resource of biological origin

But what makes this natural gas source organic? Simply, the way to get it: not by drilling for hidden deposits in the deepest parts of the Earth but by fermenting organic waste in plants designed to do so. Biomethane can, therefore, be produced for as long as you want, it is endless, and production can be increased simply by building other plants. Making the process one of the purest examples of the circular economy.

In Spilamberto, a biodigester converted into a biomethane plant

An innovative plant for the production of biomethane came into operation in October 2023 in Spilamberto, in the Modena area. It was created by NewCo Biorg, the result of the partnership between the Hera Group and the Inalca company (Cremonini Group), thanks to a total investment of approximately 28 million euros and the use of the best available technologies.

Starting from the separate collection of organic waste and agri-food wastewater, the plant - created from the conversion of an old biodigester - produces 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane every year when fully operational, a 100% renewable fuel intended for transport, and approximately 18 thousand tons of compost.

A cutting-edge plant for the energy transition and the circular economy
The 100% renewable natural gas is produced in the plant from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste coming from the separate collection carried out mainly in Modena and its district, from the waste resulting from the manufacturing process of the local agri-food industry and from the production process of Inalca's meat. Once refined, it becomes biomethane and can be introduced into the gas network.

The environmental benefits are important: around 7 thousand tonnes of CO₂ are avoided
Thanks to the introduction of biomethane into the network and its use in transport, significant environmental benefits are estimated: every year the use of approximately 3 thousand tonnes of fossil fuel oil equivalent (TOE) will be saved and CO₂ emissions will be avoided for approximately 7 thousand tons. To absorb such a quantity of CO₂, an average of 280 thousand trees would be needed.

What happens in our sant’agata facility

Organic waste, obtained through separate waste collection, is processed by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. How? The waste, shredded and screened, remains for about 21 days in 4 horizontal digesters, where suitable microorganisms carry out the digestion process to produce biogas (consisting of natural gas and carbon dioxide).

Then the biogas is upgraded using pressurized water to dissolve the carbon dioxide and separate the natural gas. The result is biomethane, a gas with a methane content of over 95% and a completely renewable energy source.

But that's not all. At the end of the digestion process, wood-cellulosic material is added to the resulting solid matter to obtain a compact mass that is sent to composting, to produce quality compost, which can be used as potting soil for vases or as a fertiliser in agriculture.

Come find out more about our Sant'Agata Bolognese plant.

Biomethane is, therefore, another revolution based on the circular economy, which all of us in the Hera Group want to pursue. Again, to create shared value, as Herambiente's CEO, Andrea Ramonda, is determined to emphasize:

“The direction we have taken addresses the industrial world as increasingly oriented towards creating shared value and partnerships.  We are aware that sustainable waste management, focused on the recovery of waste and compliant with the rules, is an essential factor in today's world, and one that delivers benefits to the entire community).

The idea of the exhibition came from the photographic project commissioned in 2018 to Silvia Camporesi on the occasion of the work being done on the Sant'Agata Bolognese site. The report has been enriched with other shots, thus becoming the complete story of the development of the plant.
The exhibition consists of 11 large-format photographic works which reveal where and how waste takes another form and becomes biofuel. Technology, innovation, industrial process, efficiency, circularity are the messages underlying each of the images captured by the artist.

Silvia Camporesi visited the plant every month for a whole year, documenting the evolution and changes to the facility. 

Sant'Agata Bolognese plant

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Focus
13/12/2023
Water Project
Innovation

State-of-the-art prevention and control tools for high-quality water

State-of-the-art prevention and control tools for high-quality water Around 10,000 new substances are constantly being released into the environment. To ensure the quality of the water distributed, we need to intercept potentially polluting substances contained in the raw water we take from the source, and prevent them from entering our drinking water systems. How? Through an early warning system which, thanks to the use of innovative tools, makes it possible to develop preventive control of the quality of water in the network, and to anticipate critical issues and management problems. img_prevenzione_controllo_focus_110.jpg Early warning: how does it work? Water can be identified by creating a typical digital imprint, the FingerPrint, built on a specific template. Basically, UV-visible spectrophotometric analysis technology is used to make a “scan” of water, i.e. a kind of characteristic digital image, creating a spectrum associated with various organic substances. The model acquires the “fingerprint” of the monitored water and uniquely identifies it. When the water taken from the source has a “fingerprint” that is not recognised, the system triggers an alarm and further checks are carried out. This technology is particularly fast, allowing a water scan in less than two minutes. In addition, the system is very useful because it allows us to interrupt the withdrawal of water resources until the pollution has “passed”, or the reliability of the reported alert has been verified, thus guaranteeing high levels of safety of the water within the network. no
Focus
13/12/2023
Water Project
Innovation

Sentry meters, to detect water leaks in the network

Sentry meters, to detect water leaks in the network contatori_kampsturp_110.jpg The Flow IQ® 2200 manufactured by Kamstrup, a well-established European supplier, is a sentry meter that can “listen” to the network thanks to a built-in hydrophone, i.e. a sensor designed to capture sounds and other acoustic signals underwater, which in this case is able to detect the noise associated with any water leaks. By placing the meters at strategic points in the network, about 50 metres apart, it is possible to create a grid within which continuous monitoring can be carried out. The meters transmit to a digital platform (called the LeakDetector) the minimum value of noise detected in 24 hours: if this is high, the meters will be highlighted with different alarm levels and analysis of the data will make it possible to identify whether it is indeed a water leak. If a leak or break code is activated for a meter, the customer will be notified promptly by our technicians. The meter testing phase started in May 2022 with the installation of more than 900 meters in the municipality of Conselice, where continuous monitoring of the water network began in September 2022 with real-time analysis of the leaks present, thereby allowing targeted intervention for repairs. It is planned to continue testing over a wider area, starting with Modena, where 1,300 meters are being installed. The Conselice pilot project: benefits noted Reliability The meters are extremely reliable, the leak and break indications that were verified were correct and no false positives were found. Promptness We intervened before customers called us: many leaks were repaired the day after they appeared, whereas previously some leaks would only have been detected following issue of a bill with an unusually high consumption figure. Permanent monitoring Compared to the installation of standard meters, the main difference is that with Flow IQ® 2200s, a permanent water leak monitoring system is put in place. Kamstrup meters are also smart meters and automatically send data to the portal. Rapid localisation If the meters are correctly positioned, field localisation is quick because the area to be investigated is confined. Integration The system interfaces seamlessly with other company monitoring tools. Affordability By correctly establishing the number of meters required, good network coverage is achieved without an unsustainable increase in costs. no
Focus
13/12/2023
Water Project
Innovation

Making water drinkable with nanotechnology: it’s now a reality!

Making water drinkable with nanotechnology: it’s now a reality! Micropollutants, or microcontaminants, are chemicals such as pesticides, drugs, medicines and other organic substances that are present in water in very low concentrations. These are substances that are hazardous to human health and the environment, which we constantly monitor and research in order to identify effective removal mechanisms and abatement technologies. img_focus_nanotecnologie_110.jpg “Removing and capturing” microcontaminants The project involves the use of materials recovered from the production of hollow fibres for membranes, such as scaffolds used in the medical field which, combined with graphene, can be used as filter material in the water purification process. In this way, a valuable material, which would otherwise be lost as process waste, is put back into circulation and given new life. Laboratory tests were performed comparing conventional materials, such as activated carbon and innovative materials (PSU-GO, RGO, GNP, etc.) for the treatment of water resources at the Pontelagoscuro (Ferrara) power plant. The objective of the test was to verify the effectiveness of these materials in removing various micropollutants, such as: EMPs (Emerging MicroPollutants), EPs (Emerging Pollutants) and possible by-products of ozonation, such as bromates. The results highlighted the effectiveness of certain filtering materials and the next step will be the construction of a pilot plant within the Pontelagoscuro power plant, to further study and perform further tests on a larger scale. no
Focus
13/12/2023
Water Project
Innovation

The search for water leaks is now more efficient, thanks to cosmic rays

The search for water leaks is now more efficient, thanks to cosmic rays So far, the method used to find leaks in the water mains that run under our streets has been acoustic detection: technicians walk the kilometres of asphalt above the mains and use special devices to locate leakage points. Now, however, thanks to a system that uses cosmic rays, detection can also be carried out while following the network path in a car, thus proving faster and more profitable. Raggi_cosmici_focus_110.jpg Cosmic rays: what are they and how can they be used? Cosmic rays are an innovative method for water leak detection, based on the analysis of neutrons derived from secondary cosmic rays. It follows the same principle used to test whether there is water on Mars, but it can have different applications; for example, it is used in agriculture in the US for targeted irrigation. In short, this technology exploits non-damaging particles, the neutrons, from space. These continuously impact Earth, generating collisions between secondary beams, the energy of which decreases according to the material that is passed through. In particular, hydrogen in water interacts with neutrons by slowing them down or absorbing them. The amount of water in the ground can therefore be assessed by monitoring neutrons in the air: ground where water is present in a higher percentage will have a greater moderating/absorbing effect on cosmic rays than a drier area. By analysing the concentration of free cosmic rays, the presence of a water leak can be determined quickly and accurately, saving considerable time compared to traditional methods of investigation. In fact, this system can control a considerably larger network area, because it can travel on any vehicle on which it is mounted. The search can be carried out by real-time identification, i.e. simply by the passage of the device over the tube and immediate verification of the leakage as soon as the sensor signals a decrease in the number of neutrons, or by deferred search, when the sensor placed on a moving vehicle passes over the area several times and then indicates the wettest spots. The operator will no longer need to walk the entire water network with the geophone, but can go directly to the points identified on the map. Experimentation and results Together with the Department of Nuclear Physics at the University of Padua, we have developed a device that, mounted on a car, allows operators to travel along the network and monitor the concentration of neutrons on the road surface. The vehicle moves at a speed of 40-50 km/h along the road under which the water network runs and, using cosmic ray analysis, the levels of detected neutrons are shown on a display. When the concentration drops, it is a sign that the neutrons have been retained under the soil by a cluster of water. When this happens, it means that there may be a water leak in that very spot, underground, and technicians can promptly intervene for repairs. The testing of this technology, which we have been conducting since 2021, has confirmed the scientific soundness of the method: out of several thousand kilometres investigated, the same number of ruptures were found as with the traditional acoustic method, but with the advantage that the cosmic ray method is more productive, since the operator moves around in a car rather than on foot. With a network of some 30,000 kilometres to check, having this tool allows us to make great strides. In addition, cosmic rays are sensitive to even modest leaks, such as those from pipe joints, which are more difficult to detect accurately. This technology, which we have implemented thanks to a partnership with the start-up Cosmic and the team at Neptune Srl, is based on an isotope of lithium, lithium-6, which is the element that allows us to detect neutrons. We will continue to use it alongside the classic acoustic method, to locate all possible leaks and increase the level of effectiveness of interventions. no
Focus
05/08/2020
Innovation

SMART CITY: Hera's commitment to the city of the future

SMART CITY: Hera's commitment to the city of the future /group_eng/innovation/smart-city smart city.jpg no
Focus
04/08/2020
Heratech Project
Innovation

A source of clean energy from sewers and wet waste: Biomethane

A source of clean energy from sewers and wet waste: Biomethane null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material. And that, once "digested", produce 7.5 million cubic meters of biomethane fuel that is 100% renewable and 20 thousand tonnes of compost. Impianto Biometano foto 1 Impianto Biometano foto 2 Impianto Biometano foto 3 Impianto Biometano foto 4 Impianto Biometano foto 5 Impianto Biometano foto 6 Impianto Biometano foto 7 Impianto Biometano foto 8 Impianto Biometano foto 9 Impianto Biometano foto 10 Impianto Biometano foto 11 Impianto Biometano foto 12 Impianto Biometano foto 13 Impianto Biometano foto 14 Impianto Biometano foto 15 null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null null HERA-impianto-biometano_032__DSC9813.jpg These numbers tell the success story of our state-of-the-art plant in Sant'Agata Bolognese, just outside Bologna: the latest great and ambitious project to add to our long list of waste treatment facilities (89 in total, including waste-to-energy plants, composters, and sorting plants). With one big goal: to relaunch the challenge of renewables on an industrial scale and make this plant a reference structure for green energy in Europe. Biomethane: a clean resource of biological origin But what makes this natural gas source organic? Simply, the way to get it: not by drilling for hidden deposits in the deepest parts of the Earth but by fermenting organic waste in plants designed to do so. Biomethane can, therefore, be produced for as long as you want, it is endless, and production can be increased simply by building other plants. Making the process one of the purest examples of the circular economy. In Spilamberto, a biodigester converted into a biomethane plant An innovative plant for the production of biomethane came into operation in October 2023 in Spilamberto, in the Modena area. It was created by NewCo Biorg, the result of the partnership between the Hera Group and the Inalca company (Cremonini Group), thanks to a total investment of approximately 28 million euros and the use of the best available technologies. Starting from the separate collection of organic waste and agri-food wastewater, the plant - created from the conversion of an old biodigester - produces 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane every year when fully operational, a 100% renewable fuel intended for transport, and approximately 18 thousand tons of compost. A cutting-edge plant for the energy transition and the circular economy The 100% renewable natural gas is produced in the plant from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste coming from the separate collection carried out mainly in Modena and its district, from the waste resulting from the manufacturing process of the local agri-food industry and from the production process of Inalca's meat. Once refined, it becomes biomethane and can be introduced into the gas network. The environmental benefits are important: around 7 thousand tonnes of CO₂ are avoided Thanks to the introduction of biomethane into the network and its use in transport, significant environmental benefits are estimated: every year the use of approximately 3 thousand tonnes of fossil fuel oil equivalent (TOE) will be saved and CO₂ emissions will be avoided for approximately 7 thousand tons. To absorb such a quantity of CO₂, an average of 280 thousand trees would be needed. What happens in our sant’agata facility Organic waste, obtained through separate waste collection, is processed by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. How? The waste, shredded and screened, remains for about 21 days in 4 horizontal digesters, where suitable microorganisms carry out the digestion process to produce biogas (consisting of natural gas and carbon dioxide). Then the biogas is upgraded using pressurized water to dissolve the carbon dioxide and separate the natural gas. The result is biomethane, a gas with a methane content of over 95% and a completely renewable energy source. But that's not all. At the end of the digestion process, wood-cellulosic material is added to the resulting solid matter to obtain a compact mass that is sent to composting, to produce quality compost, which can be used as potting soil for vases or as a fertiliser in agriculture. Come find out more about our Sant'Agata Bolognese plant. Biomethane is, therefore, another revolution based on the circular economy, which all of us in the Hera Group want to pursue. Again, to create shared value, as Herambiente's CEO, Andrea Ramonda, is determined to emphasize: “The direction we have taken addresses the industrial world as increasingly oriented towards creating shared value and partnerships. We are aware that sustainable waste management, focused on the recovery of waste and compliant with the rules, is an essential factor in today's world, and one that delivers benefits to the entire community). The idea of the exhibition came from the photographic project commissioned in 2018 to Silvia Camporesi on the occasion of the work being done on the Sant'Agata Bolognese site. The report has been enriched with other shots, thus becoming the complete story of the development of the plant. The exhibition consists of 11 large-format photographic works which reveal where and how waste takes another form and becomes biofuel. Technology, innovation, industrial process, efficiency, circularity are the messages underlying each of the images captured by the artist. Silvia Camporesi visited the plant every month for a whole year, documenting the evolution and changes to the facility. Sant'Agata Bolognese plant null no http://ha.gruppohera.it/plants/composting/biometano_project/082.html null
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

Hergo Reti: the smart approach to emergency service and maintenance

Hergo Reti: the smart approach to emergency service and maintenance hergo reti.jpg More than 130 thousand emergency response reports involving 1,500 employees in 2019. More than 50 thousand emergency response operations in the first six months of 2020, in a local area that includes Emilia-Romagna, Triveneto and Marche. These numbers speak for Hergo Reti, Hera Group's platform that effectively manages our operations, maintenance, technical assistance, and emergency response activities. Efficiency, performance and satisfaction are the key words that have guided us along the development of Hergo Reti, a project included in our Utilities 4.0 plan. Since its introduction in 2018, the "Geocall" IT platform has enabled us to simplify our processes by applying the benefits of digitalisation to emergency response activities. In the past, the persistence of paper documents or data accessible only from a fixed location slowed down operations. The need for constant telephone contact with assistants and the use of multiple devices for different functions did not improve process efficiency. Today, thanks to "Geocall", everything has become accessible via smartphone: from the technical information of the user systems to the data on service personnel, up to the creation and allocation of the work phases, the consultation of multimedia documents attached to the work orders and road navigation to the location of the report. no
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

Robotics at the service of humankind

Robotics at the service of humankind Will the future belong to machines? That is the main question that arises when dealing with issues such as Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Two disciplines that have literally revolutionized the way we do our business, radically changing its processes. Robotica.png Predicting the future is not up to us. However, we are certain of one thing: automation processes are the key to increasing the value of the people who work for the Hera Group. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, in fact, have enabled us to automate all the repetitive and low value-added business processes. By doing so, we can let people have more time for more qualifying activities and enhance their intellectual capacity on processes that generate more value for the company. Thanks to the Robotic & Intelligent Process Automation platform, a project that is part of our Utilities 4.0 plan, we have obtained significant results, speeding up the process and making the operations more reliable in the 7 processes we have started in recent years: the management of the suppliers' DURC (Unified Certificate of Social Security Payments Compliance), the communications between seller and energy distributors, the seller's Order Entry process, the expense reports, the service notices related to waste management services, the work orders to replace meters in the networks and, lastly, the virtual assistant for planning meetings and booking meeting rooms. By introducing dashboards that monitor automated activities, we can act promptly on business processes, continually optimizing productivity and efficiency. The aim is to extend the scope of automated processes to new areas thanks to their continuous technological evolution, for example, with tools such as semantic text interpretation engines and optical character recognition (OCR) systems. The challenge to make our processes smarter and smarter is just beginning.
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

The Forlì remote control technology hub, the heart of Hera

The Forlì remote control technology hub, the heart of Hera To run efficiently, cars need an engine that works optimally. Hera's engine is its Forlì Remote Control Technological Hub. This facility is unique in Italy and among the most advanced in Europe. It controls and monitors more than 6,600 plants and 67 thousand km of networks. telecontrollo_Forlì_FC.jpg Our sophisticated IT system enables us to remotely control the water, sewerage, gas, and district heating distribution networks in real-time, and covers Hera Group's entire service area. It enables us to continuously monitor malfunctions or failures and take direct action on the systems. In a control room of over 400 square meters, a team of 68 professionals controls the networks thanks to 130 monitors, 34 operating stations, and ten process engineering stations. Also, a giant 60 m2 screen enables operators to view networks and plants in real-time, monitoring them also using precise 3D representations, in addition to all the network operating parameters. The control room, the "heart" of Forlì's technological centre, receives over 9 million pieces of information daily through 360 thousand sensors installed throughout the local area. Every day, its operators handle about 8 thousand events or alarms coming from the field, with a broad range of criticality levels. The synergy between networks and the remote control centre is also ensured by the technical call centre, that supports the emergency response service, and handles around 340 thousand incoming calls per year, equal to an average of over 920 per day, and around 150 thousand outgoing calls. Thanks to the information received in real-time and the very detailed graphical representations, our technicians can immediately assess the extent of each report and activate the necessary actions, such as local emergency services. Remote control
Focus
04/08/2020
Water Project
Innovation

The preventive maintenance of sewerage networks travels in space

The preventive maintenance of sewerage networks travels in space From up on a satellite, we can see if an aqueduct has leaks, and we can predict if our sewer networks need maintenance. Indeed, the most advanced technologies enable us to be even more efficient in managing the water cycle, transitioning from "fighting fires"' to taking "predictive" action, to prevent collector failure as much as possible. manutenzione reti fognarie.jpg The new pilot project uses data provided by satellites of the European Space Agency. By overlaying the satellite scan on the map of our sewerage networks, we can precisely assess the state of the land and infrastructure. If we find subsidence, we carry out an accurate video inspection to act pre-emptively. Modena, where we operate a total of 2,230 km of sewerage network, and Bologna, where we manage about 4,000, are leading the pilot project. The areas, where the plain is interspersed with hills and mountains, have similar characteristics. In total, the project covers more than 6,200 km of network, on a total area of almost 3,500 km2. We are implementing and refining this monitoring system. We plan to extend it to other infrastructures in the future. With the experimental use of satellite technologies, the Hera Group participates in EuroGEOSS, the European project that puts the most innovative IT systems for the observation of terrestrial phenomena at the service of the environment. The CNR, the Italian National Research Council also participates in the initiative. " We have been enthusiasts of innovation, the development of new technologies and their experimentation", says Franco Fogacci, Water Director of the Hera Group. "These systems, based on satellite tracking, the result of high-level international collaboration, are creating added value for the integrated water service that Hera operates in 239 Italian municipalities, for a catchment area of over 3.6 million inhabitants. no
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation
Energy Efficiency
Circular Economy

Ferrara, the city of "green" heat

Ferrara, the city of "green" heat ferrara citta verde.jpg A treasure is hiding under the soil of Ferrara. Not a chest full of gold coins nor a vault containing hidden works of art. It is a gift that nature gave this city. About two thousand metres under the Casaglia hamlet, there is a geothermal deposit from which water is drawn at around 100 °C. It is one of the world' s largest geothermal sources and a completely clean and renewable source of energy. This natural treasure makes Ferrara's district heating one of the most advanced geothermal plants in Europe. This reservoir, in fact, supplies 43% of the thermal energy to a 160 km long network that serves about 25 thousand housing units. Thanks to geothermal energy, combined with the recovery of the heat generated by the Via Diana waste-to-energy plant, 87% of the heat we distribute in Ferrara is "green". This result is confirmed by the recent Carbon Footprint certification validated by SGS, according to which Hera district heating helps the city of Ferrara to save 22 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The Hera Group, partnered with Enel Green Power in a specially created temporary grouping of companies, has been managing this treasure trove of clean energy since the end of 2019. We began this process in 2017, when we obtained the concession to exploit the geothermal reservoir in the Ferrara subsoil, and we recently completed it by acquiring the Casaglia geothermal power plant. Thanks to this operation, we expect to increase the Ferrara district heating system's use of geothermal energy by a further 23% by 2023, compared to the 2016-2019 average. In recent years, our strategy has had a single objective: to boost district heating in the city and create an advantage in both the residential and production markets. For example, under an agreement with the Municipality of Ferrara, customers who convert their systems, installing a district heating controller, already receive an 80% discount on the installation. District heatign no
Focus
04/08/2020
Circular Economy
Water Project
Innovation

Wastewater "gets beautiful" with ultrasound treatment

Wastewater "gets beautiful" with ultrasound treatment Wastewater is all the water that, after having been used in domestic, agricultural, and industrial activities, must be treated before being returned to the environment. This water contains a solid part – sludge – which is removed during treatment. But, in addition to giving a new life to wastewater, can we also make the sludge life cycle circular, by reducing the amount to be disposed of? Back in 2017, we started research to answer these questions, and, once again, we decided to invest in new technologies to lighten the impact on the environment and be more virtuous. In November 2019, our efforts became a reality, thanks to the ultrasound sludge hydrolysis system, installed at the Forlì treatment plant. In this system, part of the sludge from the wastewater treatment process is subjected to sound waves. The waves, in contact with the liquid matrix to be treated, biodegrade more volatile solids, increasing biogas production, and reducing the final dry matter in the sludge. All this makes it possible to significantly reduce the volume of sludge to be disposed of and opens up new scenarios for the use of the biogas obtained thanks to the ultrasound system. During 2020 the initial results will be reported and we look forward to sharing the successes of this new adventure with you. 110_150_depurazione.1597408821.jpg no
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

Hergoambiente, waste bin speaking

Hergoambiente, waste bin speaking What would a waste bin say if it could talk? Probably incredible stories of extraordinary everyday life. But above all, it could tell us some practical information: where it is, if it has been damaged and if the time has come to be emptied. We thought it was impossible to make our waste bins talk. But nothing is impossible when you want to provide a useful service to your local area. hergoambiente.jpg Thanks to HergoAmbiente, the "intelligent" system designed and implemented by the Hera Group to support waste collection and street cleaning, we "tagged" each of the 300 thousand bins of our network, giving them a first name, a last name and a voice. By doing so, we can always be updated in real-time on any information concerning them, from where they are to how they are working, and when they were last emptied. With Hera, it's not just the waste bins talking. Thanks to HergoAmbiente's dedicated technologies and cutting-edge IT systems, we have also assigned a unique identity to all other assets, including vehicles, drop-off points, and plants, to locate them in space, organise their activities over time and evaluate the quality of the services we provide. It is an extraordinary opportunity at the service of local communities. HergoAmbiente thinks and works as a network, i.e. a network of people and devices interconnected with each other, able to govern all the processes through which its waste management services work: design, planning, operational planning, reporting management, field execution, reporting and... redesigning services, because the data analysis can always help to define and achieve new customized objectives. What's our objective? To improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of services for the local area, optimising resources and ensuring real-time traceability of the waste we collect. A project, in short, the initiatives of which are part of the Hera Group's Utilities 4.0 plan, which is being extended every year with new ideas: in 2019, as part of the cassONetto Smarty smart waste bin project, we developed the innovative functionality that enables citizens to open the electronic waste disposal device using the "The Wasteologist" app, with NFC (Near Field Communication), without using their card. In its waste management services, HergoAmbiente exponentially increases the value of available information by blending the contexts they are located in, geo-referencing them, connecting them together, and transforming them into a treasure trove of knowledge which can be promptly used to continuously improve the service provided to citizens. With a drastic reduction in data entry and data transmission errors. Thanks to HergoAmbiente, in fact, it is possible to: know and keep up to date on the number and position of waste containers in the service area and their condition (for example, to know if they have already been emptied and when); seek continuous improvement in the design and operational scheduling of services; track waste collection and street-sweeping in a timely manner; quickly and flexibly organise the workforce; ensure the timely collection of information from the field sent at the end of the shift by Hera operators and subcontractors that are carrying out part of the services; exactly determine the current "productivity" of a collection centre, a drop-off point or even of a single bin; increase the efficiency of the service for the collection of bulky waste; complement the flow of information from call centres and apps such as The Wasteologist, translating it into corresponding services to be performed; produce reports aimed at carrying out precise analyses of our services, with a view to transparency towards citizens and institutions. With HergoAmbiente it is now possible to know the real position of the bins in the local area, to know if they have already been emptied and when. The benefits of HERGOAMBIENTE
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation
Energy Efficiency

Hera and General Electric together for energy recovery

Hera and General Electric together for energy recovery An experimental and innovative project with an ambitious goal: energy recovery and lower consumption of fossil fuels by decompressing the methane gas distributed in urban networks. general electric (1).jpg The exclusive agreement between Hera Group and General Electric specifically involves installing a turbo expander at the R&M stations (gas delivery points) of the Ducati factory in Bologna. It is a medium-small turbo expander (330 kW electric), which can be installed in medium-sized R&M stations, that in combination with a heat pump that uses CO2 as a thermal carrier fluid, recovers part of the electric energy to preheat the gas used in the process. In 2019, we completed all the production start-up activities and started the provisional running phase, in order to carry out all the performance and endurance tests. It is scheduled to start operating at full capacity in the second half of 2020. Once the testing is completed, if the expected performance is confirmed, this technology can be installed in other methane gas decompression stations of the Hera Group. The project, moreover, contributes to achieving target 7.3 of the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
Focus
04/08/2020
Water Project
Innovation

Innovation takes flight and offers a variety of perspectives

Innovation takes flight and offers a variety of perspectives Cameras on. Three, two, one... take one! Or maybe it would be better to say... Go! Our drones are off. Yes, you got that right. To ensure high quality services, we have invested in the most modern technologies, such as drones, which have become alternative and complementary investigative tools for the Hera Group. innovazione spicca il volo (1).jpeg Drones offer us countless opportunities in the management of essential services, such as checking the status of power lines, which can present problems that are difficult for ground-based operators to identify. We use helicopters to inspect the nearly 1,500 km of overhead power lines under our responsibility. Drones also enable us to protect our service areas by checking for possible illegal discharges and observing the filling status of landfills, and offer increasingly timely services by monitoring the upgrades of public lighting, observing tanks and roofs. Not only that: specially designed drones support us in sewer inspection, providing accurate data to help optimise our work. Our drones soar through the sky but also dive under water. Indeed, to offer higher and higher quality standards, special aquatic drones enable us to analyse the state of drinking water tanks, and of reservoirs without emptying them, giving us information about the collectors even if they are filled with murky water. For us, leveraging innovation to contribute to the development of the local area and promoting efficient use of resources are the pillars of a broader project: creating Shared Value. For some time, we have been using cutting-edge technology that goes beyond drones, like satellite scanning. With this system, we can remotely assess the stability of the sewer collectors, pre-locate leaks in the water networks, and monitor landslides in our Apennine service area, to prevent problems in the gas networks.
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

Data, the key to a smart future

Data, the key to a smart future A smart waste bin, one which opens and closes autonomously, and that can recognise users by card or smartphone and record what they have put in, alerting operators wirelessly when it is full. Is that science fiction? No, it's our Smarty waste bin, one of the latest projects launched by Hera to improve and make separate waste collection even more efficient. An initiative that easily and immediately represents, especially for customers, the innovation and digitalisation process that Hera has pursued in recent years, putting data and its analysis first. infografica_smarty.png Every day we receive millions of data, a volume of information that is not comparable to what we were facing just a few years ago. The most advanced digital systems come to our aid, such as the Internet of Things and business intelligence systems, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence tools. The city of the future, the "smart city", is one of the areas in which we can most effectively express the innovation of our services. Thanks to Acantho, Hera Group's digital company with its 4,200 kilometre long proprietary fibre optic network, we have developed public Wi-Fi services, smart security systems, and digital signage such as multifunction totems that display information or promotional content. Our detection devices and sensors, connected to a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, enable us to collect information on traffic trends, air quality, usage of public parks by the building industry, and even satellite reconnaissance of roofs containing asbestos. Valuable information, which is essential to increasingly understand the local area in which we operate and to create shared value. Accessing such an advanced data pool places a great responsibility on us: to protect it. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2020, cyber-attacks are one of the top 10 risks for people and the global economy, both in terms of impact and probability. That's why we are continually working to improve our approach to cyber-security, to defend devices, users, identities, and infrastructure. Over the past few years, we have enhanced the security of email and browsing on our employees' devices and strengthened cloud protection and monitoring of our industrial plant networks to comply with the latest regulations such as the GDPR. "There are many technologies available to the world of utilities. The critical issue, and the real challenge, lies in identifying the right ones for the company's strategic goals: data analytics and intelligent automation show enormous growth potential. Understanding data and how to use it in a forward-looking approach offer unprecedented opportunities for cost-cutting, and improving our service and competitiveness," explains Salvatore Molè, Central Director of Innovation and Head of ICT at Hera Group. Smart City Visita il sito Bi-REX null https://bi-rex.it/
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

The office in a device. Digital workplace

The office in a device. Digital workplace We introduced smart working in 2017 because we strongly believe that it can increase productivity and business performance while offering an answer to the delicate "work-life balance", by building an even deeper trust relationship with the people working in the Group. Ufficio.png In 2019 we implemented the Digital Workplace – Office 365, to get even more familiar with digital tools and make them as useful as possible. This has enabled us to give our employees mobility, collaboration, integration, simplicity, flexibility, and security. We also changed our office layouts: we set up temporary offices, to work in when away from the home office, and smart points, spaces where colleagues can collaborate with each other more easily or find the right concentration. The Digital Workplace has literally transformed the way we work, making office presence increasingly unnecessary. Documents are securely accessible from all company devices and through all channels. We have also developed a continuous backup, a virtually unlimited mailbox, and can ensure maximum availability of services, even if problems occur on the company network. Thanks to the Digital Workplace, we have also simplified installations and updates, making it possible to store and manage data in accordance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union). The Covid-19 emergency did not take us by surprise and, thanks to our major digitalisation process and to smart working, we were able to protect the health of our employees, while ensuring continuity of service and maximum support for all our customers.
Focus
04/08/2020
Water Project
Innovation

Water treatment 4.0, between artificial intelligence and predictive technologies

Water treatment 4.0, between artificial intelligence and predictive technologies The watchword is innovation. To protect the environment and those who live in it, and to provide quality services. That's always been our belief. But there's more. We need to add another watchword: resilience, the ability to cope with change. And when we speak of climate change, we have learned that innovation and resilience are inseparable. The most modern technologies allow us, in fact, to face sudden changes, turning to prevention, the ability to predict causes and consequences, acting in advance. Image_psbo.png Following this principle, and as the second-ranking Italian operator in terms of volumes of water sold, we have earmarked Euro 830 million for smart technologies in our Business Plan for 2023. In fact, the networks and plants of the water cycle are subjected to increasing stress due to the ongoing climate change, and only our ability to adapt and innovate, has made us an Italian excellence in the industry. The investments we have made are 20% higher than the Italian average - almost Euro 176 million in 2019 alone – and reaffirm our commitment to a circular and regenerative economy, starting with water. In particular, by complying with the requests of the United Nations Global Compact on the sustainable management of water resources, we remain committed to continuously innovate the service to achieve its gradual decarbonisation. This happens not only by using only renewable energy but also through energy efficiency projects and optimisation of the processes involved in the treatment. There are two virtuous examples we are particularly proud of, the Modena treatment plant and that of Granarolo dell'Emilia (Bologna). THE SMART TREATMENT PLANT IN MODENA Blue water, clear water. This is the refrain that welcomes to Modena's smart treatment plant. Its new predictive system, unique in Italy, enables us to improve the quality of the water we return to the environment and to further reduce the energy consumption of our wastewater treatment plant. Here, technological innovation, integrated systems, and efficient use of resources are at the forefront. The project, developed together with Energy Way (the company that develops mathematical models for the efficient and sustainable development of businesses), created a system capable of controlling the oxidation process, a fundamental phase of the wastewater treatment cycle, anticipating the needs of the plant's activities. In fact, the requirements vary according to the water flow rate and the concentration of organic pollutants. The smart controller anticipates, 30 minutes in advance, the condition of the plant and acts beforehand to avoid the concentration of pollutants or energy peaks. The pilot project has yielded positive results, which we are proud of. The Modena treatment plant, which can cope with the needs of 500,000 inhabitants, recorded a 16% decrease in energy used in the oxidation process, compared to a traditional control system, and a further 8.1% decrease in the presence of nitrogen in the outgoing water (a parameter already below the regulatory limits). WELCOME TO CONSTANCE, PROTOTYPE OF THE GRANAROLO DELL’EMILIA TREATMENT PLANT It's just been born, but it's looking very promising. We are talking about CONSTANCE (COntrollo iNtelligente e geSTione Automatizzata per il trattameNto di aCque rEflue). The system is the fruit of a partnership between Hera Group and ENEA (Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente), is based on machine learning technologies, and can reduce energy and water treatment plant management costs by more than 30%. The prototype has reached a level 7 technological maturity and is ready for industrialisation; the first tests were successfully carried out in our treatment plant in Granarolo dell'Emilia (Bologna). CONSTANCE's main innovative feature enables us to remotely manage multiple treatment plants and to estimate in real-time the percentage of pollutants entering the plant, such as nitrogen, reducing them and thus returning cleaner water. "At Hera, we place technological innovation among the fundamental pillars of our management and development strategy. With this in mind, in 2017 we formed a partnership with ENEA to build projects of common interest," says Franco Fogacci, Water Director of Hera. "The experimental test project of ENEA's CONSTANCE controller at our treatment plant will allow us both to further develop skills, know-how, and transfer new technologies into real applications on an industrial scale, for the benefit of citizens and the environment", he concludes.
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation

What about your bill? Pay it with a click

What about your bill? Pay it with a click Once upon a time there was paper-based billing. As soon as you saw the envelope in your mailbox you would start the usual rant: get the postal payment order, find the cash, and above all, a lot of patience to face the endless queues at the post office or at the tobacconist's. Today: your bill is digital and you pay with a click, from the comfort of your home and with your smartphone. bolletta (1).png No, it didn't take a time-travel machine to get to here. What only a few years ago seemed unthinkable, was our commitment to make Hera an even more digital company. Our mission has always been to fulfil the needs and requirements of our customers, who nowadays show that they want to express themselves through smarter ways of consumption. Such as digital payments, which can transform a repetitive and even somewhat boring activity, like paying bills, into a fast, simple and safe routine; the environment also benefits because by doing so, we contribute to reducing the use of paper. Today, there are several digital solutions (add links to The Bill > Bill payment page) that we offer our customers to help them pay without queues, without wasting time and without any risk. Thanks to our partnership with Unicredit we were the first in Italy to generate no fewer than 6 million virtual IBAN codes, which we communicated in bills or invoices. Thanks to this customers can complete their payments directly from their Internet banking site, quickly and easily. Thanks to its multi-bank and multi-channel approach, CBILL also lets our users make payments from the dashboard of their online bank, providing complete and integrated coverage of the entire bill collection process, from notice issuance to settlement. Many customers have subscribed to the Online Services of the Hera Group or use our myHera app . For them we thought of two even smarter payment methods, such as Jiffy/Bancomat Pay, with which you just need to enter your mobile phone number to be debited from your current account, and Amazon Pay, which is directly linked to your Amazon account and your default credit cards. There are a total of 149 digital wallets that we have made available to our customers, such as Masterpass, Pay with Postepay, and Apple Pay, which simplify payments via smartphone or desktop, providing a transparent and straightforward user experience. The digitalisation of our services is one of the pillars of our path towards the UN’s 2030 Global Agenda, in line with the European Union's strategy for creating a digital single market. "In 2017 alone, we invested Euro 78 million in projects designed to spread digitalisation, in areas such as smart cities, data analytics, business intelligence, Utilities 4.0, circular economy, and customer experience. We are already the most digital utility company among the 13 examined in a survey by Utilitatis, but that's not enough. The service sector is constantly changing, and the partnerships we have entered into are crucial to making a quantum leap and addressing the needs of our customers”, explains Stefano Venier, CEO of Hera Group from April 2014 to April 2022. Servizi Online Hera My Hera Android My Hera Apple no https://servizionline.gruppohera.it/auth/hera/login?goto=https:%2F%2Fservizionline.gruppohera.it%2F https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.gruppohera.app&hl=it https://apps.apple.com/it/app/my-hera/id1245611790
Focus
04/08/2020
Innovation
Circular Economy

Bus fuel from trash: Hera's pilot project with "START"

Bus fuel from trash: Hera's pilot project with "START" _PG_9554.1555590488.jpg To obtain clean energy to power Ravenna's buses by decomposing waste in landfills. We are not talking about the future, but about what has already come true, thanks to an innovative waste treatment plant in Ravenna. It adds another important element in the effort to reduce environmental impact and optimise waste management. The project is funded by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Administration and the European Commission, and is designed to highlight the advantages of using green natural gas. Which ones? It can contribute to replacing fossil energy sources with renewable energy sources; it can be used in the transport sector by contributing to achieving the 10% share of biofuels; it can provide logistics savings thanks to the extensive Italian natural gas network; and can be integrated with other renewable energy sources. The biomethane is collected from networks inside the landfill, and from there it is channelled into a container where it is "purified" by removing the carbon dioxide and other gases in it. From there, it reaches a tank and is used for refuelling. For now, the biomethane produced by the plant will power the buses of "Start Romagna" (Romagna's public transport company), and the pilot project will last about two years. But this is just the beginning. For the Hera Group, this is the second biomethane production facility, after the one in Sant'Agata Bolognese, which produces green energy by treating mowing, pruning and organic waste from separate waste collection. Landfill in Ravenna no http://ha.gruppohera.it/plants/composting/biometano_project/082.html
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Focus

A source of clean energy from sewers and wet waste: Biomethane

An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material. 
Focus

Biodiesel has been developed also from used food oil

Fuel may also be extracted from vegetable oils. Used domestic vegetable oil (such as frying oil) which is recovered by multiutility services via roadside containers and drop-off points, is transformed into biodiesel, which in turn is used to fuel the vehicles used for urban waste collection.
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Bus fuel from trash: Hera's pilot project with "START"

To obtain clean energy to power Ravenna's buses by decomposing waste in landfills. 
Focus

Data, the key to a smart future

From city to "smart city" thanks to data: with our detection systems we can monitor traffic trends, air quality and consumption of public parks. 
Focus

Dialogue with the urban context for new energy: the Borgo Panigale cogeneration plant

District heating is already in itself a "sustainable" and environment-friendly solution, because it can guarantee better performance than traditional domestic boilers. In addition, the plant located in Borgo Panigale ensures lower emissions into the environment, more reliability and greater availability of energy. The system can heat the equivalent of 8,000 residential units. Currently, the turbines can produce 35,000 MWh of energy per year, almost twice as much as in the past.
Focus

Ferrara, the city of "green" heat

What's Ferrara's green secret? It's underground, where a geothermal basin feeds its district heating system. The result? 87% of the thermal energy distributed in the city is "clean" and we avoid about 22 thousand tonnes of CO 2 emissions.
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Hera and General Electric together for energy recovery

We have installed a turbo expander at the R&M stations of Ducati's factory in Bologna. The goal is to recover electricity from the decompression process of methane gas. 
Focus

Hergo Reti: the smart approach to emergency service and maintenance

More than 130 thousand emergency response reports involving 1,500 employees in 2019. More than 50 thousand emergency response operations in the first six months of 2020, in a local area that includes Emilia-Romagna, Triveneto and Marche.
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Hergoambiente, waste bin speaking

Our 300,000 waste bins are talking. How? Thanks to a "tag" that always tells us where they are, how they are working and if they have been emptied. Find out more about the projects of HergoAmbiente, Hera Group's "smart" system to support waste management services.
Focus

Innovation takes flight and offers a variety of perspectives

Hera Group's drones are alternative and supplemental investigation tools to provide quality services to the areas we serve.
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Interactive financial statements and sustainability reports
The consolidated economic results at 31 December 2023 and the 2023 sustainability report were approved by the Board of Directors of the Hera Group on 26 March 2024
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2023 sustainability report

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Hera SpA, Viale Carlo Berti Pichat 2/4, 40127 Bologna, Tel.051287111 www.gruppohera.it