ACEA participates in this year too Ecomondo 2020, which for this edition takes place in an entirely digital way, presenting a development model that aims at the transition towards a sustainable industrial ecosystem and the concrete commitment to design and build smart cities in the name of technological innovation and the green and circular economy . The Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Gola, speaking in the session
international plenary, declared: “For ACEA, growth and value creation are closely related to the achievement of sustainability objectives which increasingly characterize the performance indicators. The Business Plan that we presented last week significantly increases the weight of sustainability in the business decisions and operational management of the Group".
“In fact – continued Gola -, of the 4,7 billion euros of total investments, no less than 2,1 billion – over 400 million euros more than in the previous Plan – refer to specific sustainability targets. The actions that will be implemented by the Group in implementation of the Business Plan will positively affect the Italian GDP for about 6 billion euros, directly and indirectly generating employment for over 21 people. In the current context of crisis due to the health emergency, utilities can play an important role in the path of economic recovery. For example, we believe that it is important to intervene on water infrastructures, which are currently inefficient and obsolete, particularly in some areas of Southern Italy. Acea, as the first water operator in Italy, can play an important role in the implementation and management of these investments and we think that the Recovery Fund can be a useful tool in this sense".
The sustainability targets identified refer to the protection and management of water resources, through projects to secure the supply of the Peschiera and Marcio aqueducts; to the contribution to the development of electric mobility, through the installation of over 2.200 charging stations; to contrast the effects of climate change, through the increase in the production of electricity from photovoltaic systems. On this point in particular, ACEA intends to increase its portfolio with approximately 747 MW of installed power from photovoltaic plants at the end of 2024. When fully operational, the new plants will have a production of over 1,3 TWh per year, equal to approximately 600 kt of CO2 emissions avoided.
Furthermore, ACEA also pays particular attention to strengthening the waste-to-material supply chains from a circular economy perspective (such as, for example, those of plastic and paper) and to waste transition, with reference to the AceaSmartComp project, created by ACEA in collaboration with Enea and the University of Tuscia, which has as its objective the widespread and participatory treatment of organic waste produced by large users (canteens, hospitals, shopping centres, airports, stations), with the aim of reducing both environmental and transport impacts, also reducing CO2 emissions. Among ACEA's objectives, the installation of 150 Smart Comps by 2024 to create a new model of zero kilometer waste management which has important effects on the environment, thanks to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions due to the elimination of punctual collection and transport.
