Regione Siciliana and RSE have signed a three-year memorandum of understanding to facilitate the definition of policies aimed at achieving the objectives set at the European, national and regional levels on energy transition and sustainable development and supporting the drafting of a regional strategy for an efficient, low-cost and effective management of energy produced from renewable sources.

The agreement was signed by Calogero Giuseppe Burgio, Director General of the regional Energy Department, and Franco Cotana, Managing Director of RSE – Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico, an energy system research company controlled by the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici, in the presence of Regional Energy and Utilities Councillor Roberto Di Mauro.

‘Thanks to this collaboration,’ says Councillor Di Mauro, ‘Regione Siciliana and RSE will be able to work on the planning of an energy model that involves low costs for Sicilian citizens and businesses and promote an efficient management of the energy produced from renewable sources. Particular attention under the agreement is given to the digitalization of electrical systems, through the creation of neural smart grids, and to the identification of sustainable configurations of future hydroelectric pumped storage-compatible plants, according to the energy strategies of Terna’s development plan.’.

‘The possibility of realizing the production chain,” Burgio adds, “inherent in the wave-to-power converter called Wave Sax in Sicily will be assessed, which I developed together with academia and RSE in the port of Civitavecchia. This could lead to huge employment opportunities in our region. Wave Sax, today at a pre-industrial level, is the only one to use mini-hydroelectric technology capable of harnessing the enormous amount of energy in the sea, far in excess of anthropogenic needs.’

‘Thanks to its central position in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily represents a strategic node for national and European energy networks,’ says Cotana. ‘We are pleased to offer support in the analysis and design of plans for the development of a regional energy system that meets the characteristics of efficiency and environmental sustainability, while considering the technical and cost aspects.

The new mechanism for the provision of electric storage capacity (Meccanismo di Approvvigionamento di Capacità di Stoccaggio Elettrico, MACSE) is a great opportunity for Sicily’s hydroelectric energy storage.’

RSE has identified as many as eleven potential hydroelectric storage systems in Sicily with a total capacity of about 4 GW. ‘Hydropower storage systems based on pumping between two reservoirs at different heights have several advantages over electrochemical storage with batteries: almost unlimited lifetime, independence from critical materials such as lithium, use of Italian technologies,’ adds Cotana.

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