Sustainability is always an important concern when we create new facilities or dedicate existing ones to new uses. We are, for example, developing a new Research Center on the site of a former thermal power plant in Augusta (near Syracuse in Sicily), and it will be dedicated to the use of (botanical) plant species in energy applications. The Center’s laboratories will study agrivoltaics (i.e., combining farming with energy production) and phytoremediation (i.e., using certain plant species for cleaning up contaminated air, water and soil).
The Research Center, which is located on the perimeter of a former thermoelectric power plant, grew out of our collaboration with the National Research Council (CNR, il Consiglio Nazionale di Ricerca) and Sicily’s Science and Technology Park (PSTS, il Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico della Sicilia).
Operational management and the research program will be developed by the CNR which, in collaboration with the PSTS, will devise new protocols for mitigating the environmental impacts of power generation facilities and infrastructures.
The lab will be powered by a small solar park
In addition to its Laboratory, the Augusta Research Center is equipped with offices, a conference room, and all the necessary facilities for a self-sufficient hub.
It is flanked by a solar park, which powers heat pumps for cooling and heating the building.
Its advanced photovoltaic modules come from our facility at the 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania, which is expanding its annual production from 200 MW to 3 GW.
The Research Center thus aims to become a world-class facility. It will be instrumental in strengthening Italian scientific research in the energy field. It will also be able to attract innovative projects which focus on developing technologies for the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The Center has been entrusted to prominent partners such as the CNR and the PSTS, and built by reusing decommissioned space at the thermoelectric power plant. It is a good example of how sustainability and the circular economy can generate value, thereby confirming that the ongoing energy transition is a great opportunity for both the country and the region.
