Fincantieri and ENEA signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at identifying areas of common interest and developing a research and innovation program portfolio. The partnership will include different areas, among which the followings stand out: energy efficiency, renewable energy generation systems for the production, transportation and distribution of hydrogen, fuel cells, the circular economy, management and control strategies for Smart Ports and Smart Cities, materials technologies and remediation actions for sustainability in marine and terrestrial environments. In order to step up cooperation, specific working groups will be implemented, and possibilities for personnel exchange, that is ENEA researchers being hosted in Fincantieri while personnel of the Trieste group work in ENEA’s Researcher Centres, are also envisaged.

Under this agreement ENEA aims to promote a wider spread of scientific knowledge and research, in its competence sectors, while Fincantieri wishes to maintain its role as a global technology leader, by acquiring further knowledge and innovative competence in the industrial fields of its business sectors.

“This agreement paves the way for a partnership of major significance between research and the business sector; we are teaming up with an international leading group such as Fincantieri, to tackle issues such as sustainability, higher training and education, research and innovation transfer, which are more and more strategic for growth and competitiveness” Gilberto Dialuce, ENEA President, stressed. “We are really pleased that ENEA was chosen as a partner; we have expertise and qualified facilities to be made available in many fields, from hydrogen technologies to renewable sources, from CO₂capture to robotics and big data, from the circular economy to advanced materials, but also alternative fuels and remediation actions on areas hosting shipbuilding sites, also with a view to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”.

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, commented: “In recent years, we have allocated an average of 160 million euros for several projects related to process and product innovation with a special focus on decarbonization and digitalization. Indeed, 60% of our R&I spending fuels the development of clean technologies which will play a role in creating increasingly eco-sustainable products and services, oriented towards resource efficiency and biodiversity protection. Hence, this agreement is part of a long-standing strategy, which we are sure will allow us not only to consolidate the success achieved to date, but also to support the future competitiveness of the Group, called to face increasingly complex and demanding global scenarios”.