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SUPPLY CHAINS OF THE FUTURE: 1ST REPORT ON THE PRODUCTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF RENEWABLES IN ITALY
Worldwide investment in renewables reached a record $495 billion last year and the next five years are expected to see as much renewable capacity installed as in the last twenty. Europe is racing ahead with a record new photovoltaic capacity of 41.4 GW in 2022 (47% more than the 2021 record) and even Italy, with 2.5 GW of photovoltaics, is recovering from the stagnation of recent years. So, who are the Italian players committed to meeting the challenge of developing renewables in view of the 2050 carbon neutrality target? In which segments of the supply chain are they located and in which territories? These questions were answered at ´Supply chains of the future: report on the productive geography of renewables in Italy´ promoted and organised by the Fondazione Symbola and Italian Exhibition Group, in collaboration with the sector´s main Trade Associations, and presented today at K.EY during a talk chaired by Ermete Realacci, President of Fondazione Symbola, and moderated by Gianni Silvestrini, President of K.EY´s Technical Scientific Committee (TSC). Ermete Realacci, President of Fondazione Symbola, said: ´Aiming at renewables and efficiency increases the country´s growth, gives strength to the economy and makes it less dependent. As stated in the 1st Report on the productive geography of renewables in Italy, promoted and organised by Fondazione Symbola and Italian Exhibition Group, 21,378 companies carry out activities related to the renewable energy chain. Looking at the territories, almost a third of the companies are located in Lombardy, Lazio and Veneto. Italy excels in many segments of the new sustainable economy and our country is at its best when it crosses its ancient chromosomes and its identity with an all-Italian way of doing business. A way that brings together innovation and tradition, social cohesion, new technologies, beauty, the ability to speak to the world without losing ties with its own territories and communities, production flexibility and competitiveness. There is much to be done, but we can start from here to tackle not only our ancient ills, but also the future and the challenges it poses. We can do this within the mission that Europe has given itself with the Next Generation EU in order to respond to crises by holding together cohesion, green transition and digital. We must do this by reinforcing a global strategy of cooperation and peace, which is currently under stress. To build together, without leaving anyone behind, without leaving anyone alone, a safer, more civilised and kinder world, as written in the Assisi Manifesto.´.
The report is a first attempt at a broad identification of active and potentially active enterprises within the supply chain. The approach, while leading to significant numbers, does not identify individual enterprises and underestimates the contribution of small enterprises. Areas that would lead to greater numbers than those estimated and on which detailed analyses will be made in future editions. The Report paints an articulated picture from a sectoral point of view, highlighting the different areas of intervention of companies in the renewable energy supply chain, from installation and maintenance (44.1%), to sales (14.1%), manufacturing (11.2%), energy production (7.2%), and consulting, testing and monitoring (7.1%). Lombardy, Lazio, Veneto, Campania and Emilia-Romagna together account for 53.6% of the total number of companies identified. At a provincial level, Rome comes first (1,735 enterprises, 8.1% of the national total), with a result strongly influenced by installation activities, followed by Milan (1,510, 7.1%), Naples (833, 3.9%), Turin (659, 3.1%) and Brescia (542, 2.5%). Looking at the manufacturing segment linked to the development of products, components and machinery, Milan stands out with 116 companies (4.8% of the national total), followed by Brescia (108, 4.5%), Vicenza (101, 4.2%), Padua (84, 3.5%) and Treviso (79, 3.3%). A network of companies distributed throughout the territory in all segments of the supply chain, where relevant experiences emerge, such as the largest gigafactory in Europe for the production of photovoltaic modules (3 GW per year), which will be active as of 2024 in Catania. (n. b. . FOTO ALLEGATO)

NUMEROUS FOREIGN DELEGATIONS, ECO-SUSTAINABLE RECONSTRUCTION FOR THOSE FROM UKRAINE
Companies, buyers and delegations of professional visitors from all over the world at K.EY - The Energy Transition Expo, the leading trade show on renewables, currently taking place at Rimini Expo Centre. Foreign delegations included one from Ukraine, which is participating together with Zhiva Planeta, the association for promoting sustainable consumption and a Government partner, and its President, Svetlana Berzina. With the ambitious mission to rebuild better infrastructure throughout Ukraine, not only in the residential areas, the association has come to K.EY in search of the best green technologies. ´We need new sources of diversification for energy reconstruction. The infrastructure in cities all over the country has been destroyed and we need to rebuild it,´ confirms President Berzina. During these days at the Rimini trade show, Zhiva Planeta has been developing networking and business, initiating numerous negotiations with quality certifying bodies, particularly for the construction of eco-sustainable schools and kindergartens, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with Green Building Council Italy (GBC Italy) on cooperation in the field of organic building development for the green reconstruction of Ukraine. Over the years, the Zhiva Planeta association has managed to build a solid bridge of networking and exchange between government, science and business.

ENERGY STORAGE AND INVESTMENT PROSPECTS IN AFRICA
The event organised by the RES4Africa Foundation entitled ´Investment in Renewable Energy in Africa, the role of storage for the rapid development of RES in Africa´, came to a close this morning at IEG´s K.EY trade show. It was attended by various private stakeholders from the energy sector and public institutions: Gustave Aboua (Director General of Sustainable Development at the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Côte d´Ivoire), A. Biancardi (Director of the Department of Studies, System, Energy Services Management), D. Francovigh (Directorate General for the Promotion of the Country System at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Dr. Philipp Bonhoeffer (Juhudi Mashinani Org. Kenya), F. Mazzali (Senior Consultant for Energy Storage at RINA Consulting), A. Kanzari (President, Chambre Syndicale des Intégrateurs en Photovoltaïque Tunisia), G. Cicerani (Head of Business Development, Energy Storage, Enel Green Power), R.Vecchia (Commercial Director, FAAM), S. Boudoudouh (Head of R&D and Innovation programs at IRESEN), Mr. M. O.Mghazli (Head of Energy efficiency & Green buildings at IRESEN), K.Salmi (Energy Management Expert, Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency), Francis Habara Moroto (Community liaison officer Northern Kenya, Juhudi Mashinani Org. Kenya).
Roberto Vigotti, Secretary General of the RES4Africa Foundation commented: ´Energy storage has the potential to be a game changer in Africa´s energy transition by providing a steady and consistent supply of energy from renewable sources.´ This morning´s talk pointed out that energy storage solutions can make a key contribution to renewable energy investments in Africa and can enable energy generated from renewable sources to be captured and released at a later date, providing substantial support to the energy security of African countries. With the synergy of governments, institutions and the private sector, energy storage can become a perfect ally in Africa´s energy transition and a catalyst for economic growth and development.

THE RENEWABLE ENERGY OBSTACLE COURSE IN THE NEW LEGAMBIENTE REPORT
In Italy, the development of renewables continues to be an obstacle course. This is shown by the numbers in the new Legambiente report entitled ´Checkmate for renewables 2023´ presented this morning at K.EY. As of today, there are 1,364 systems on the waiting list in Italy, i.e., at the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) stage, at the preliminary assessment and State Environmental Matters Regulation level. 76% of these are distributed among Apulia, Basilicata, Sicily and Sardinia. In the face of this high number of projects under assessment, very few authorisations have been issued by the regions in the last four years. In 2022, in fact, only 1% of photovoltaic system projects received authorisation. This is the lowest figure in the last 4 years if we consider that in 2019, 41% of the applications received authorisation, a figure which progressively fell to 19% in 2020 and 9% in 2021. The figures for on-shore wind power are even worse with a percentage of authorisations issued in 2019 of 6%, 4% in 2020, 1% in 2021 and 0% in 2022. These figures are worrying if we consider that, in recent years, both the number of projects submitted and the number of requests to connect renewable energy systems to the national grid have increased, the latter rising from 168 GW as of 31st December 2021 to over 303 GW as of 31st January 2023. Another alarm bell is installation slowness, as shown by the latest Terna data - just 3,035 MW in 2022 - and the inability of the overall reserve to compensate for the reduction in production. In 2022, renewable sources, photovoltaics aside, all recorded negative numbers. Hydroelectric power, as a result of the drought emergency, recorded -37.7%, together with a 13.1% drop in production from pumping, bringing the contribution of renewables to overall consumption to 32%. Or rather, the same level as in 2012. ´We continue to stress to the Meloni government,´ says Legambiente´s national president Stefano Ciafani, ´that the country must become the hub for renewables. If we really want to fight the climate crisis, speed up the ecological transition and hit the decarbonisation targets set by Europe, Italy must focus firmly on renewables, efficiency, self-production, electricity grids and storage. On this path, it is essential for the government to deploy a short-, medium- and long-term policy also in terms of decarbonisation targets that can no longer be postponed. First and foremost, we need to simplify the authorisation process to ensure time certainty, and improve the regional offices that issue authorisations so that they can better manage the projects that are piling up. We need to reorganise the regulations on renewables and update the response to the new energy scenario that will have to evolve towards configurating new and increasingly renewable landscapes in terms of the decarbonisation targets for 2035 and the best way to integrate them into the territories.´

TOGNI (ANEV): OFFSHORE WIND POWER HAS REACHED TECHNOLOGICAL MATURITY, PROJECTS FOR OVER 100 GW
´The offshore wind sector has now reached its technological maturity, so much so that a positive scenario can also be expected in Italy, thanks to floating wind power. There are more than 100 GW of offshore projects with a connection request, many of them advanced, which show the interest and capacity of companies in this sector.´ These were the words of ANEV President, Simone Togni, speaking at the ´Wind Offshore - The Growth of Offshore Wind Energy in Italy and the World´ conference held during K.EY The Energy Transition Expo at Rimini Expo Centre.
´At this point,´ he added, ´we need a response from the institutions. The Ministry of the Environment has already confirmed that it wants to finalise the RES 2 Decree by the summer in order to follow up with the new National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate. The time is ripe and the government is working for the sector, we hope it will continue to do so.´
GSE President Paolo Arrigoni´s presence at the conference was very welcome. He confirmed the company´s openness to the business world by saying: ´My presence at K.EY 2023, just a few days after my appointment as GSE President, confirms the signal of openness and support to businesses and trade associations that the company´s new course intends to give.´
´Offshore wind energy in Italy has a potential that we must exploit. It is a strategic element that can provide, together with all renewables, a significant contribution to achieving the ambitious goals that the new National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate must set itself,´ commented Luca Squeri, Member of the X Commission for Productive Activities at the Chamber of Deputies. ´The government´s action must be geared towards achieving an energy mix that can guarantee less dependence on fossil fuels and national energy security.´

STORAGE AND PERMITTING BEGINS WITH THE FIT-FOR-55 PACKAGE
The European environmental package Fit-For-55 was the starting point of two conferences organised by ANIE Rinnovabili today at K.EY dedicated to the topics of storage and permitting. Recently, Snam and Terna produced the 2022 Scenario Description Document, which emphasises the target of 95 GWh of storage by 2030. Unfortunately, Italy only installed 2.7 GWh in 2022. What development policy is needed to reach those targets? This question was the starting point for the event ´Storage for the flexibility of the electricity system´ with the participation of Omar Imberti, Coordinator of ANIE Federazione´s E-mobility Group, Fabio Zanellini, President of the Technical Commission of ANIE´s Storage Systems Group, Michelangelo Lafronza, Secretary of ANIE Rinnovabili, Jacopo Tosoni, Lead of Policy EASE, Alexander Schoenfeldt, Delegate of LDES Council. This was followed by a round table discussion with Enrico Maria Carlini, Electricity System Planning Authorisation for TERNA, Stefano Domenicali, Managing Director & Vice President of Ingeteam Italy, Marco Falorni, Sales Director at Weco Batteries and Raffaello Teani, ANIE Federation Storage Systems Group Coordinator. Instead, the objective of the meeting entitled ´The effects of authorisation procedures on connection requests´ was to identify strategies to meet the objectives of the European Union´s Fit-For-55 package between now and 2030 in a context that has seen an increase in Italy over the last two years in the demand for grid connection and the inter-ministerial nature of implementation processes for building new RES systems. Speaking at the event were: Tommaso Barbetti, Partner Elemens, Andrea Cristini, ANIE Councillor, Laura D´Aprile, Head of the Sustainable Development Department at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, Cristina Martorana, Partner Legance, Mario Turetta, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture. This was followed by a round table on connections with Andrea Caregari, Director of Operation and Maintenance at E-Distribuzione, Alfonso De Cesare, Head of FER TERNA System Connection Management, Gianluca Cipolletta, Head of Development Italy at Renantis, Gervasio Ciaccia, Head of the EFR ARERA Unit, and Franco Citron, Vice-President of ANIE Rinnovabili.

ELECTRIC CARS, A REVOLUTION ON THE ROADS
The road to electric mobility has been mapped and now more than ever, Europe wants (and must) reassert its technological and industrial leadership in the automotive industry. The year 2035 will be a watershed for the entire automotive industry with the challenge of electrification requiring major regulatory, technological and cultural changes. This was discussed during the talk entitled ´The global electric car game: what´s happening in Europe and Italy´, organised by Motus-E and Transport & Environment, which offered an overview on how electric mobility is developing at a continental level. In this process, tools such as incentives play a central role in facilitating the dissemination of electric cars and charging infrastructure. However, they need to be supported by a clear political vision and strategic and industrial planning in order to achieve decarbonisation goals, especially in Italy, which finds itself having to chase the most virtuous countries on a continental scale, such as Germany, but which has great potential for growth. This is confirmed by the words of Francesco Naso, Secretary General of Motus-E: ´Our country needs to accelerate its electrification path. To do this, we need to harmonise political and industrial guidelines, so as to promote public and private investment in the sector. With the right measures, we can achieve excellent results while still preserving Italy´s competitiveness.´ In fact, as indicated at the conference, Italy already ranks ahead of nations such as France and Germany in terms of the number of recharging points accessible to the public in relation to the number of vehicles in circulation.

SMART CITIES, TECNOLOGY AND CULTURE AT THE SERVICE OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
The ´cities mission´ is a European Commission initiative regarding smart and climate neutral cities by 2030. 100 cities from all 27 Member States are involved in the project with a further 12 cities belonging to countries associated to Horizon Europe, the EU´s research and innovation programme (2021-2027). They are to act as demonstration and innovation centres to enable all European cities to become climate neutral by 2050. The talk entitled ´Climate Neutral and Smart Cities: the ´building challenge´ for Italian pilot cities´, organised by K.EY with Kyoto Club and SITda, compared a number of Italian urban centres (Bologna, Milan, Padua, Prato, Rome and Turin) that are participating in the ´cities mission´ initiative, highlighting innovative ideas and practices to achieve zero emissions in these cities, with particular emphasis on the question of building. A number of common points emerged from the discussion between the various administrations to make the ´smart city´ concept concrete: the defining of a regulatory framework and plans that can enable the adoption of technologies and innovations with high environmental value, as well as the creation of training and information programmes for citizens and businesses.

AT K.EY, H2IT PRESENTS A REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEN FILLING STATIONS
The European Union has set extremely ambitious energy transition goals that call for a green transformation of mobility by focusing on alternative fuels such as hydrogen. On this front, Italy has recently taken its first steps, thanks to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transports´ approval of 36 hydrogen refuelling station projects throughout the country, for a total investment of Euro 103.5 million. But what exactly are the scenarios, the regulatory frameworks and the technological states of the art of Italian hydrogen mobility with reference to road (heavy and light), rail and sea transport? To answer these questions and build a strategic vision on the implementation of the hydrogen refuelling station network in Italy, H2IT - the Italian Hydrogen Association which represents large, medium and small enterprises, research centres and universities working in the sector - presented the report ´Development of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations - Regulatory Barriers and Implementation Scenarios.´ The study, presented at the K.EY Energy Transition Expo, analyses and develops a series of proposals to overcome the current limiting factors. The report shows that, over the past few years, the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles has grown significantly in both road and rail transport. In Europe, the positive trend of 2020 continued in 2021 with new hydrogen vehicle registrations increasing by +22% compared to 2020. Germany is ahead with +70%, followed by the Netherlands and Switzerland. Globally, the largest producers of hydrogen cars are South Korea and Japan. In Italy, the lack of an adequate refuelling station network has severely limited market growth. Precisely for this reason, within the 3.64 billion foreseen for the hydrogen supply chain in the NRRP, Euro 530 million are to go towards supporting the construction of stations for road transport (230 million, 40 stations) and rail transport (300 million for 10 stations) by 2026. In particular, for heavy road transport, as specified in the Preliminary Guidelines of the Ministry of Economic Development´s Italian Hydrogen Strategy, the goal is to make 2% of the national long-haul truck fleet hydrogen-powered by 2030, thus paving the way for the development of light hydrogen mobility. ´The need to also focus on hydrogen, in a complementary way with other alternative sources, has been put on paper by European and Italian institutions,´ said Luigi Crema, Vice President and Chairman of the H2IT Scientific Committee. The recent publication of the Ministry´s call for tenders on NRRP refuelling stations and the related allocation of funds for 36 stations is a fundamental step towards developing the first nucleus of an infrastructure network, but it must be the first of several steps within a strategic framework.

THERE ARE STILL NOT ENOUGH RULES FOR GETTING AGRI-VOLTAICS OFF THE GROUND
Italy still lacks a regulatory framework for agri-voltaics that would allow a sector capable of combining agriculture and energy transition to take off. These were the words of Alessandra Scognamiglio from ENEA and President of the AIS association for sustainable agri-voltaics as he spoke this morning at a K.EY meeting on this new micro-sector of renewables. ´To date, this framework of uncertainties,´ said Scognamiglio, ´does not make the task any easier for companies and investors. Numerous questions are still open: first of all, size must be defined. In other words, how big an agri-voltaic system can be, but also whether the same system can be installed in all available fields. The answer is still under debate and depends on the landscape itself, which cannot be the same everywhere but must be subject to certain rules.´ Another issue on the agenda is the need to harmonise the various existing regional regulations. But how many agri-voltaic systems are estimated for the future? For Scognamiglio, uncertainty also prevails on this issue. However, Enea will publish a report by the summer, the result of a European project, which will allow for a more precise estimate of how much agrivoltage our country can produce.

BEYOND THE SMART CITY, A CONFERENCE ON NEW URBAN MODELS AND ENERGY PARADIGMS
Under the impetus of the NRRP and decarbonisation and energy efficiency policies, Italy and its cities are being transformed. At the same time, the need for greater forecasting and management of extreme natural phenomena and an improvement in the quality of life in urban areas are causing local authorities and operators to seek monitoring and control solutions using the data. These were the topics at the heart of the conference entitled ´New urban models and energy paradigms. Beyond the smart city´, held in the afternoon at K.EY´s Energy Agora. The topics discussed were sustainable mobility systems, environmental monitoring solutions and energy efficiency measures as well as new paradigms, such as renewable energy communities and new models of urban regeneration. The round tables were moderated by Gian Marco Revel, University Polytechnic of Marche, TSC, Sustainable City Scientific Officer, and Laura Baronchelli, LUMI4innovation Editorial Director, Head of Content LUMI.

LEGAMBIENTE . INNOVATION AWARD
The Legambiente Innovation Award is the first national recognition aimed at business and local authority innovation in the environmental field, a challenge in which the competitiveness, attractiveness and wellbeing of cities and territories are at stake. During K.EY, the call to action for the 18th edition of the Award was launched, aimed at start-ups, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), university or company spin-offs and benefit companies. The aim of the initiative is to promote research and contribute to the dissemination of good practices, highlighting those realities capable of taking up environmental challenges as an indispensable value and opportunity for economic and social development. In particular, the 2023 call for proposals seeks to intercept projects that respond to the challenges of the green economy, divided into five macro-categories: Agriculture and agri-food supply chains, Sustainable Mobility, Smart Living, Innovations to improve life in small municipalities and Smart Cities, Circular Economy and Energy Transition. The winners in each category will receive a cash prize in addition to the right to use the Innovation Award 2023 logo. Mentions may also be made for each category. ´Innovation is a formidable accelerator for consolidating or transforming products, services and processes. Through the Award, we wish to support ideas and projects that interpret innovation with a strong environmental value, generating virtuous synergies between the world of research, universities and companies. It is a symbolic recognition, but above all a starting point for a structured strategy with which to develop innovations and bring them to the market,´ says Giorgio Zampetti, Director General of Legambiente.


ABOUT K.EY 2023
Event: International trade show; Organization: Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A.; Frequency: annual; Edition: 16th; Dates: 22-24 March 2023; mail keyenergy@iegexpo.it; Website: www.keyenergy.it; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K.EYexpo; Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeyEnergyit; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keyenergy/

PRESS CONTACT ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP
head of media & corporate communication: Elisabetta Vitali; press office manager: Marco Forcellini; international press office manager: Silvia Giorgi; media@iegexpo.it

MEDIA AGENCY: Smartitaly Communications
Sara Scatena, s.scatena@smartitaly.it, mob. +39 338 7836985; Arianna Geli, a.geli@smartitaly.it, mob. +39 347 0917903

FOCUS ON ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP
Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A., a joint stock company listed on Euronext Milan, a regulated market organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., has, with its facilities in Rimini and Vicenza, achieved national leadership over the years in the organisation of trade shows and conferences. The development of activities abroad - also through joint-ventures with global or local organisers, in the United States, United Arab Emirates, China, Mexico, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, for example . now sees the company positioned among the top European operators in the sector.

This press release contains forecast elements and estimates that reflect the management´s current opinions (´forward-looking statements´), particularly regarding future management performance, realization of investments, cash flow trends and the evolution of the financial structure. For their very nature, forward-looking statements have a component of risk and uncertainty, as they depend on the occurrence of future events. The effective results may differ (even significantly) from those announced, due to numerous factors, including, only by way of example: food service market and tourist flow trends in Italy, gold and jewellery market trends, green economy market trends; the evolution of raw material prices; general macroeconomic conditions; geopolitical factors and evolutions in the legislative framework. Moreover, the information contained in this release, does not claim to be complete, and has not been verified by independent third parties. Forecasts, estimates and objectives contained herein are based on the information available to the Company as at the date of this release.