Two intense days fully dedicated to the hydropower sector, renewable resources and environmental engineering, for an innovative specialised event with a high technical profile.
Two event days- Tuesday, 29th and Wednesday, 30th – in which Piacenza Expo will come alive through AQUAWATT, a convention with exhibition designed by Piacenza’s fair company – in collaboration with the most qualified institutional and industrial partners and with their patronage – with the scope of bringing the importance of hydropower in the energy transition under the spotlight.
A project in which all entities operating in the field of water management for industrial, energetic and environmental uses meet, during a period of our history in which one of the greatest challenges is to attain energetic independence, reducing imports and operating on the resources at our disposal. The important amount of solar and wind systems recorded over the past few years will therefore require an ongoing increase of hydropower production, which – according to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) – should increase by around 60%, worldwide, by 2050.
“Topical subjects from an economic, industrial, political and institutional point of view” – states PiacenzaExpo’s President Giuseppe Cavalli – “will be addressed during Aquawatt’s technical seminars, in which international field experts and professionals will be participating. Modern hydroelectric power plants are contributing to hasten the transition towards green energy, and, with Aquawatt, we want to offer our own contribution to the achievement of this goal.”
An exhibit of technology, tools and structures for engineering planning, as well as conventions, technical seminars (complete with course credits for professionals) and presentations of the research and development field, together with a dedicated area where start-ups will be showcasing innovative contents for the present and future of hydroelectric. A great share of speeches will be held in English, thus confirming a European vision as Aquawatt’s ideal context.
The opening session of the official program, “Renewal of hydropower concessions and benefits for the national economic system”, moderated by Jacopo Giliberto, will focus on the topic of concessions’ renewal, with a discussion between politics and private managers. Special attention will then be dedicated to the seminar “Support CERs in the field of Renewable Energy Communities and self-consumption: legal form, systems engineering, perspectives”, which will be held in the afternoon of Wednesday, 30th Oct., and focuses on major current issues, also including Fondazione di Piacenza e Vigevano’s call for bids.
The event is supported by a wide network of associations, bodies, institutional investors and public as well as private companies; and has the patronage of: Ministry for Environment and Energetic Security, Ministry for Infrastructures and Transportation, Itcold, Associazione Idrotecnica Italiana, AIPnD, Assoidroelettrica, ANBI, Federidroelettrica, RSE, ENEA, ANIPA, Etip Hydropower, ANBI.
THE VOICES OF THE TECHNICAL PANEL
“Aquawatt – declares Francesco Vincenzi, President of ANBI – Associazione Nazionale dei Consorzi di Gestione e Tutela del Territorio e delle Acque Irrigue – will be an opportunity to assess the situation on the management and preservation of water in our country. It is essential to quicken the political decision-making process on a national level, in order to prevent and handle emergencies, as well as to bring agriculture back under the spotlight when discussing European environmental politics.
“In the near future – adds Antonella Frigerio, Deputy Manager of the Sustainable Development and Energetic Sources department at RSE – the water – energy pair will require special attention because of the ongoing climate changes, which impact the availability of hydro – resources and could therefore make its competitive use a critical issue. Aquawatt represents an opportunity to start a discussion on this topic and is perfectly consistent with RSE’s mission to launch the Risorsa idrica e sistema energetico (Hydro resource and energy system) in its Triennial Research System Plan”.
“We want to thank Aqawatt – comments Federidroelettrica’s President Paolo Picco – for having given us the possibility to be part of this important event, the only event dedicated to hydropower, and reckon it can be a productive opportunity for our association to initiate a discussion among sector operators. We would like to highlight the fact that we are the only association, on a national level, to focus uniquely on medium-small plants.
“It is with great interest and engagement – concludes Guido Mazzà, President of ITCOLD, Comitato Italiano Grandi Dighe – that we joined Piacenza Expo’s AQUAWATT, aiming at delving into current issues on the topic of hydroelectric and the role it is destined to play in the political and industrial decision-making process, which sector operators will need to undertake in the short-medium term, both on a national and European level. ITCOLD has always supported an active and proactive participation of all interest bearers – hydroelectric and hydro-businesses, scientific and professional communities, institutions – and welcomed with great pleasure Piacenza Expo’s invite to patronise this initiative and contribute to strengthen the technical and scientific proposition.
“This event is the result of a multi-year work in which we established relationships with many local and national businesses. –states Sergio Copelli, Piacenza Expo’s organizational secretariat – I thank all components of the technical panel for their precious work. We are offering a new opportunity to all companies active in the energy sector to promote themselves in an exclusive context, composed uniquely of specialised operators. Visitors’ preregistrations from various foreign countries prove how the international context is the appropriate scenery for this event, which will be back in 2025”.
AQUAWATT – Conference with Exhibition on Hydropower in the energy transition
29th-30 th October 2024 – Piacenza Expo – Via Tirotti, 11 – 29122 Piacenza (Piacenza Sud A1-A21 Highway exit)
Organizational secretariat: Piacenza Expo spa – tel. 0523 602711 – water@piacenzaexpo.it
Visitors’ preregistration and complete seminars and conventions’ program: www.aquawatt.it