Sustainability and innovation: Area and AcegasApsAmga sign cooperation agreement

Strengthening cooperation across the local area to accelerate the ecological transition and promote innovative models of sustainable development. With this aim, AcegasApsAmga S.p.A. (a Hera Group company) and the national research organisation Area Science Park, which manages Italy’s largest science and technology park, have signed a five-year framework agreement to jointly implement initiatives and projects focused on environmental innovation and sustainability across the local area.

The agreement stems from the two organisations’ shared strategic commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda: from clean energy and infrastructure innovation to the protection of water resources and sustainable cities, as well as responsible consumption, action against climate change and strategic partnerships.

The agreement aims to transform the Science and Technology Park into a model of best practice in sustainability, actively involving the community of companies and research centres based there.

The framework agreement identifies three priority areas for action:

• Circular economy: projects to reduce municipal waste generation, increase separate waste collection and optimise internal waste management practices, alongside awareness-raising initiatives targeting Park users and companies.
• Efficient water resource management: implementation of systems for accurately measuring water consumption and the launch of pilot projects to analyse water flows, enabling the early detection of anomalies and leaks, with benefits in terms of reducing waste and protecting water resources.
• Smart grids and energy: testing advanced solutions for the intelligent and flexible management of electrical loads, together with technical support and neutral facilitation by AcegasApsAmga, in its capacity as a Distribution System Operator (DSO), for the establishment and development of renewable energy communities (RECs).

The activities will be developed through specific implementing agreements and will include joint technical working groups, data analysis, models and simulations, field pilot projects, staff training activities, and initiatives to disseminate and communicate the results achieved. The trials may draw on Area Science Park’s research infrastructure and expertise, particularly in the energy and digital fields, with the aim of transferring replicable models and solutions to the wider local area.

“This agreement reaffirms Area Science Park’s role as an open laboratory where research, businesses and the local community work together to test solutions for the ecological transition,” says Giorgio Graditi, Director General of Area Science Park. “We are making our campus available as a real-world testing ground: from smart water and waste management to smart grids and energy communities, the expertise of our researchers and the companies based at the Park will be combined with AcegasApsAmga’s industrial experience. Our aim is to generate data, models and best practices that can be replicated at the urban and regional levels, making a tangible contribution to the 2030 Agenda and strengthening Trieste’s role as an ecosystem for sustainable innovation.”

“We share a clear conviction with Area Science Park: innovation has value when it makes a tangible difference to people’s lives,” emphasises Carlo Andriolo, Chief Executive Officer of AcegasApsAmga. “Over the next five years, we will bring the expertise gained through our services to the Park, from waste management and water networks to smart grids, working side by side with those who carry out research every day in a respected international ecosystem. This is an opportunity to accelerate technology transfer, test solutions that we may subsequently extend across the entire local area, and strengthen our ties with the scientific community and younger generations».