Greenergy Expo and EnerSolar+, new energy for new business

From 17 to 19 November in Milan, two business to business events dedicated to renewable energies will take place, in a strongly growing sector which, in Italy, is already worth EUR 10 billion.

Green economy is the new energy able to pull the worldwide economy out of the crisis. This can be seen by the development it is undergoing all over the world: from Europe to the United States, right up to the emerging markets of Asia.
The appointments for operators of the sector are Greenergy Expo and EnerSolar+, two shows now at their second edition, to be held from 17 to 19 November 2010 at fieramilano, Rho. Greenergy Expo, with the slogan "Producing energy while saving the planet", is dedicated to geothermics, biomass, the pellet industry, biogas, cogeneration, mini hydro-electric plants, green energy, biofuels, sustainable transport.
EnerSolar+ is the international fair dedicated to photovoltaic and thermal solar energy.

Green jobs

Renewable energies respect the environment, develop the economy and create new jobs. According to a report from the United Nations entitled Green Jobs: toward decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world, 2.3 million people are already working in this sector and, with suitable support policies, by 2030 there could even be 20 million. This figure could increase even more if the outlooks of a study carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers take place, according to which, in 2050, 100% of energy needs could be satisfied by renewable energies.
In this scenario, Italy can take on an ever more important role of protagonist. The time is right: just consider that the Rapporto Italia by Eurispes speaks about a market worth about EUR 10 billion. And according to the Irex Annual Report "L’industria italiana nelle rinnovabili, tra convenienza aziendale e politiche di sistema - the Italian renewables industry, company advantages and political systems", carried out by Althesys, in 2008-2009, EUR 6.5 billion were invested in new renewable energy plants. With regards to jobs, the same study foresees, by 2020, the creation of 86 thousand new jobs in Italy.
Given that "energy provides jobs", Greenergy Expo and EnerSolar+ will also include EnerJob to encourage meetings between companies of the sector and professionals of human resources who already operate in the renewables world.
The sector is growing and, at European level, an important role for further development will be that of the EU Directive regarding the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, which fixes the mandatory goals for each nation and establishes the norms regarding projects carried out together by member states and the access to the electricity grid for energy from renewable sources.
"The transposition of the new EU Directive 2009/28/CE is an occasion to discuss the formation mechanisms regarding decisions in energy policy material," says Roberto Longo, president of Aper (Associazione Produttori Energia da Fonti Rinnovabili - Association of Producers of Energy from Renewable Sources) . We hope to have the active collaboration of all stakeholders, along with the respect of the deadlines, so as to be able to immediately exploit the social, economic and environmental opportunities and benefits offered by the renewables industry, and no longer considered as defensive, trying to restrain a cost wrongly considered unbearable for our country - Italy."

The photovoltaic boom

In the world of renewable energies, photovoltaics is one of the sectors undergoing important development and Italy is the proof of this. As per data from the Gse (Gestore Servizi Elettrici - Electrical Services Management) updated as of February 2010, growth is constant on all the Italian territory, with an average increase of 100%, and installed power that has increased from 7 to 14 Watt per inhabitant. In the regional classification, Puglia remains first, followed by Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.
A confirmation of the continuous development can also be seen by the report entitled "Comuni rinnovabili 2010 - Renewable Municipalities 2010" by Legambiente, according to which there are 6,801 "solar municipalities" in Italy, compared to 5,580 in 2009. And there are still considerable possibilities for development.
"2010 is also undergoing growth in renewable energies. In particular, this year, photovoltaics can aim at reaching 1,500 MW of installed power. The possibility of reaching this goal, however, depends on prices, which could be affected by possible incentive cuts in Germany this July. But the goal of 1,500 MW, even if ambitious, is without doubt realistic," says Gianni Silvestrini, scientific director of Kyoto Club and president of Exalto.
Further development of the sector must not forget important development programmes and concrete rules and regulations. "Green economy is a reality, but in Italy some factors are still limiting its development: first of all an uncertain and unstable regulatory framework," explains Gert Gremes president of Gifi, the Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane - Italian Photovoltaic Companies Group of Anie . Eliminating barriers is a necessary condition to be able to fulfil the commitments undertaken by our country at European level. Even if the present economic situation is negative, renewable energies are seeing continuous growth and investments. Italy must not miss this opportunity and public politics must move in this direction. Future scenarios give us an idea of continuity with the recent past," concludes Gremes. "The energy sector is going through a phase of considerable changes and renewable technologies are taking on an exceptional importance in this new scenario."
The exceptional health of Italian photovoltaics is also confirmed by Gianni Chianetta, president of Assosolare, who says: "Considering the record of 1 GW of installed power with the second energy account, equal to 70,000 plants, to add to 165 MW of the first energy account, Italy is in second place in Europe, after Germany (source: Gse). The Italian photovoltaic business is, today, made up of about 1,000 companies, with manufacturers, distributors and fitters of systems and components. Turnover generated in 2009 is estimated at EUR 2.5 billion, while from the work point of view, photovoltaics employs about 20 thousand people, both directly and indirectly. These are important figures that we hope can increase even more with the new energy account, which the entire sector is waiting for."

Synergies

Greenergy Expo and EnerSolar+ will take place alongside a number of other events able to create significant synergies. In fact, on the same days, there will also be PV Tech, the international fair on productive machinery and technology for the photovoltaic industry. Among the other events, there will also be HTE-Hi.Tech-Expo, the important show dedicated to the world of innovative technologies, made up of diverse theme halls dedicated to coating, capacitors and ultra-capacitors, cryogenics, nuclear fusion, hydrogen and fuel cells, lasers and photonics, magnets and superconductors, nanotechnologies, plasma technologies, vision technologies, vacuum and ultra-vacuum.

After the important success of the 2009 edition, which registered the participation of more than 450 operators - in particular fitters of solar energy plants - the second edition of INVEX, the event dedicated to the inverter industry, will also take place. INVEX 2010 will be held Wednesday 17 November at fieramilano, Rho, and will be an interesting opportunity for operators of this sector in which Italy has an important role. It is, in fact, one of the most important global manufacturers of inverters. This second edition will deal with topics such as: "The state-of-the-art of research in Europe: present situation and outlooks"; "Inverters and medium/high voltage grids"; "The fundamental role of MPPT (maximum power point tracker) functions: present technology and outlooks"; "Maintenance, costs, reliability of plants".