Italy commits to renewable hydrogen: millions in investments and key projects up to 2050
Dec 13, 2024
Innovative
In the fifth edition of the competition, promoted by Enagás Emprende, projects promoting energy transition were presented
The fifth edition of the Ingenia Energy Challenge, launched at the end of September 2023 as part of the Enagás Innovation Day event, received a total of 62 initiatives, making Enagás once again a benchmark in open corporate entrepreneurship to accelerate the energy transition.
The projects are focused on promoting renewable gases (with a priority in green hydrogen) and new transport fuels; sustainability and energy efficiency; and industry 4.0 and digitalisation.
The external initiative award was for the CSIC-Structural Assessment of Hydrogen Pipelines project, promoted by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and focuses on the structural assessment of hydrogen pipelines, through a technology patented by the CSIC for the inspection of the integrity of hydrogen pipelines and reused pipelines to enable their certification for hydrogen transmission.
The internal initiative award was for AZIM project, that is based on the development of a comprehensive online training solution focused on the inspection and maintenance of renewable gas facilities. Its creator, Mayte Bolumar, also won for this project the Entrepreneurial Woman award for this project, a new creation in this fifth edition of Ingenia, in which 40% of the participants are women.
For Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Enagás, “innovation is not only important”, but also “urgent”. Innovate not only to respond to a growth objective, “but also to social progress”. “With the Ingenia Energy Challenge we are looking for innovation to accelerate the energy transition with a purpose that transcends business and economic goals,” he says.
“Innovation is more open and collaborative than ever. Both internal and external talent is needed to achieve our goals of decarbonisation and security of supply, creating an ecosystem where technology centres, corporations, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs work together,” stresses Gonzalo.
In addition to the winning projects, four other projects were recognised by the jury as finalists for providing disruptive solutions that contribute to decarbonisation. They are EnaMOF, Silex, Netzero IIOT and H2Mell.
Enagás will provide the winning projects with the tools to turn their proposal into reality and may offer specific support through its subsidiary Enagás Emprende to any of them to scale up their proposals.
Since its creation in 2015, Enagás Emprende has been promoting projects that speed up the energy transition. Over the years has supported 18 start-ups.