The States General of the Economy, a series of meetings recently organised by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, was an opportunity to reaffirm the government's commitment to supporting the country's green and digital agendas. The push towards a definitive energy and ecological transition aims to abandon fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy. The government intends to formalise the incentives allocated so far in the national plan, so that Italy becomes a country of renewable energy sources and explores new sources such as green hydrogen.

The current focus is on producing energy from water, however, doing so involves complex technological processes. When rivers flow into the sea and saltwater meets freshwater, the difference in the circulating charge can be harnessed to produce energy (it is greater in the sea than in rivers).

A team of researchers, coordinated by Rutgers University, has developed a technology capable of generating energy from water efficiently. The results were presented at the 72nd annual meeting of the American Physical Society of Fluid Dynamics and reported in an article in the scientific journal, Science. The authors assert that energy generated from water could be a crucial resource for the future.

According to the data published in the magazine, 37 thousand cubic kilometres of freshwater pours into the sea globally. This amount of water could generate 2.6 terawatts (billions of kilowatts), which is comparable to the energy produced by 2000 nuclear plants. The revolution comes from a new membrane that could unlock its potential: if researchers can expand it, making it the size of a stamp, it could provide carbon-free energy for millions of people in coastal nations, where rivers meet the sea. 

The first report of the European project "Ocean SET 2020" examined 11 countries and found that when it comes to investments in technological developments for marine energy, Italy ranks first in the Mediterranean and second in Europe, after the United Kingdom, with public funding of around €5 million per year.

Looking at this in more detail, the project highlights that public allocations in the countries examined amount to a total of €26.3 million, although only six of them (Italy, France, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Spain) have adopted specific policies for harnessing the sea's energy resources. One of the EU's priority objectives is to reduce the cost per kWh of tidal energy from €0.15 / kWh in 2025 to €0.10 / kWh in 2030 and of wave energy from €0.20 / kWh in 2025 to €0.10 / kWh in 2035. On a technological level, 57 of the 79 research projects funded were for wave energy and 22 were for tidal energy.

There are five reliable prototypes in Italy, which are advanced in terms of technological development and are creating hundreds of jobs, four of these are for wave power and one is for tidal power.

When it comes to systems for extracting energy from tides, the main technology consists of a turbine with a horizontal axis. At the moment, there is no prevailing system for wave power, leaving the way open for experiments with floating-point and oscillating water column systems.

The areas with the highest potential for generating energy from waves include the western coasts of Corsica and Sardinia, the Sicilian Channel, and the coastal areas of Algeria and Tunisia.

Italy is of international importance in the research and development of these systems, with test facilities in Pantelleria, Reggio Calabria, Naples and in the Adriatic. The data relating Italy were processed by ENEA (the national agency for new technologies, energy and the environment).

The company is actively engaged in the field of wave energy, together with the research institutes CNR and RSE (energy system research), with increasing efforts in systems for generating wave energy (PEWEC systems), climatological models and high-resolution tidal forecasts (Waves and MITO). The greatest availability for marine energy resources in Europe is on the Irish coast, but research shows that there is significant potential in the Mediterranean, in terms of energy production and technological development.

In particular, the potential for energy production in the Straight of Messina is 125 GWh per year, where currents reach speeds of over 2 metres per second. Favourable climatic conditions in our country, combined with scientific and technological capabilities, have enabled safe, economic tests to be carried out on hi-tech devices, allowing us to design cutting-edge and increasingly efficient systems for extracting marine energy from currents. 

Eni, led by Claudio Descalzi, is betting on this new source of clean energy, in line with its development objectives which combine solid financials with economic sustainability. This will lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions, as part of the company's energy transition. Eni’s CEO says: "The new organisation reflects the historical turn that Eni is taking. An irreversible path that will help us become a leading player in the production and sale of decarbonised energy products. Our new plan plots a path for the next 30 years, which is unprecedented in our industry. The fight against climate change and the need for sustainable development are recognised as priorities by governments, society, investors and companies and only those who pursue them tangibly and innovatively will be able to create long-term value. We want to be key players in a fair energy transition, we believe in this and it will become one of the cornerstones for our transformation."

Moving from words to actions, a collaboration between Eni and the Polytechnic of Turin has led to the creation of "MarEnergy", a Research Centre that combines the Polytechnic's internal resources and professionals from Eni. The company and the Polytechnic have also set up a specific marine energy course to support the Centre, the first in the academic field in Italy. This provides technical and scientific training for future marine energy professionals and also allows for additional research on specific issues, furthering knowledge in the subject and leading to the rapid industrial adoption of technologies for exploiting marine energy resources. This positions the Polytechnic of Turin as a key global player for studying and developing technologies for generating energy from marine resources, wave motion in particular.

With its experience in design, construction and offshore installation operations, Eni has developed and is operating the Inertial Sea Wave Energy Converter (ISWEC), the world's first integrated wave and photovoltaic power generation system, in cooperation with the Polytechnic and the spin-off venture.

The plant has been operational off the coast of Ravenna since March 2019 and has shown high reliability and the ability to adapt to different sea conditions, due to its active control and regulation system. Data shows that it has exceeded its maximum nominal installed power value of 50kW during the period of operation.

Guido Saracco, Rector of Turin Polytechnic, said: "The collaboration with Eni for producing energy from renewable sources, which is such a strategic sector for the planet, is a virtuous example of open innovation for our University. An idea that began in our research labs progressed through the stages towards being introduced on the market, from the creation of the spin-off – ISWEC – to its adoption by a large industrial group.

“This agreement further enhances our collaboration with Eni, extending it to education, creating a specific supply chain in the field and enriching collaboration on research areas relating to energy that comes from the sea."