In the last three years, ENEA's research and innovation projects funded by the EU, in particular under the Horizon 2020 programme, have grown by 80%, going from 31 in 2014 to 55 in 2016.
Also in this period, the projects of the Agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development achieved a success rate of 20%, about double the European average (11,8%). This is what emerges from report "ENEA contracts with the European Commission", just published, which highlights a total of 154 projects with ENEA participation underway in 2016, equal to a total amount for the Agency of almost 40 million euros. The major partner countries in European projects are Germany and France, followed by Spain and the United Kingdom.
ENEA is also in a good position in the management of the projects themselves as team leader: in fact, compared to the EU projects still ongoing in 2016, it coordinates 30, or about 20% of the total, interfacing between the proponents and the Commission European. The largest number of projects acquired is in the energy sector (53,5%), followed by the environmental sector (10,6%); in the field of energy, renewable sources and nuclear fusion rank first for contributions received. Compared to the past, project activity in the energy area is substantially unchanged, that in the environment area is down slightly, while the number of projects in the safety area has grown (10,3%). The real novelty is represented by new sectors such as materials and raw materials (8%).
"The increase in projects acquired over the three-year period should be interpreted taking into account that the H2014 program began in 2020 and, as in all similar start-up phases, there is a physiological period of study and learning of the practices, including bureaucratic ones, for the presentation projects”, explain the authors of the report Anna Pibiri and Caterina Salvadego of ENEA.
