Decarbonization and energy transition
We provide heat to homes thanks to the resources available in the areas served, applying the principles of the circular economy and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
We at A2A are leaders in Italy in the district heating sector. District heating is a safe, clean, efficient and affordable way of heating buildings, significantly reducing the charges that customers have to meet when using traditional heating systems, such as the periodical maintenance of boilers, for example.
This system is a perfect example of what being a Life Company means for us, thanks to the application of the principles of the circular economy, one of the mainstays of our Strategic Plan. For us at A2A, there is no wastage, only value. With district heating, in fact, we heat buildings by recovering energy and heat from industrial production cycles and from waste-to-energy facilities, but also from green sources: renewables (bioenergies, biomass, solar, geo-thermal) and high-output cogeneration. In this way, we safeguard the environment and take care of the communities for which we operate.
CO2 emissions avoided thanks to district heating
Equivalent apartments served by district heating
The 2021-2030 Business Plan also covers the development of district heating networks in the areas where our Group has facilities and networks: Brescia, Bergamo and Milan.
In 2021, in particular, we carried forward work on the construction of new heat storage units at our district heating production facilities. These units make it possible to store heat at times when demand is low, typically during the night; the heat stored is then released during peak demand periods, usually early in the morning, thus reducing the total quantity of heat that needs to be produced.
Ahead of its time in 1972, district heating in Brescia today serves 70% of city buildings, both residential and tertiary, thanks mainly to the heat production facility that uses as fuel the waste of the WtE site in Via Lamarmora, just south of the city centre. The Group’s main investments focus on the construction of new heat storage units so as to complete the process of decarbonization of the energy system, abandoning coal in favour of other more sustainable sources. In addition to this, there are projects for the recovery of heat waste from industrial processes.
In Bergamo, too, our main projects are aimed at integrating the sources of production for district heating. The most important of these is the one that recovers heat from the REA waste-to-energy plant in Dalmine, just west of Bergamo, where surplus heat will no longer be dispersed into the air but will be used to produce hot water which, when pumped into the network, will increase the city’s district heating by 50%, saving the emission of 14,500 tonnes of CO2 a year. Furthermore, we have made substantial investments in the heat storage capability at the Goltara power facility.
The recovery of heat from industrial sites for the integration of sources is also an important goal for Milan, where the first projects date back to the 1990s when AEM rolled out district heating in the city of Sesto San Giovanni, just north of Milan, and, in Milan itself, in the Comasina district, and in the Via Bensi and Bicocca-Tecnocity areas. Under way today, there are innovative projects for heat recovery from industrial sites and the trialling of advanced networks of district heating and district cooling. In addition to this, we are making significant investments in heat storage at the Canavese and Famagosta facilities in Milan.
We provide heat to homes thanks to the resources available in the areas served, applying the principles of the circular economy and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
In order to produce hot water, district heating taps into a range of sources, many of which are defined ‘green’: renewable (biomass, solar and geothermal), high-output cogeneration, the recovery of heat otherwise dispersed (by industrial activities, thermo-electric power plants and WtE residual urban waste facilities) or heat pumps.
This technology makes it possible to exploit to as great an extent as possible the heat recovery and renewable sources available, reducing emissions from the production of heat.
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