Press release 2009

THE EVENTS ON RENEWABLES CONFIRM THEIR DRIVING FORCE FOR RECOVERY.
Press release no. 196/09
(01/12/2009)

The events on renewable energies have just closed their doors on considerable success. Sectors such as photovoltaics, thermal solar power, geothermal energy, biogas and biomass, cogeneration and mini hydro-electric plants, provide a strong impulse for the development of new companies and jobs in all regions of Italy.

Greenergy Expo and Enersolar + the two events dedicated to renewable energies which took place from 25 to 28 November at fieramilano Rho, have just closed their doors obtaining the best results possible. A success that not only involved attendance - with 26.178 visitors also considering the other four events that took place at the same time - but also with regards to visibility for all the sectors of clean energy, which are an important resource for development in Italy.

The four days of the show saw the presence of the most important Italian and international companies of the photovoltaic, thermal solar, low temperature geothermal energy, biomass and biogas sectors. A major strong point were the eight conferences, which took place during the fairs, with a total of 42 sessions, and 226 speakers. In this context, investment opportunities and strategies were also discussed in the sectors dedicated to renewables, solar energy (photovoltaic and solar thermal power), biogas and its potentials for agriculture, cogeneration, wood biomass for the production of clean energy, continuing with geothermal energy and the potential of development of mini hydro-electric power plants in Italy.

The conferences were not only an occasion to have a technical update of the situation, but also to enable operators of the sector to meet and coordinate to develop a common road-map at political level, in a key moment as that of the present, which, on the one hand sees Italy committed to respecting the goals of reducing polluting emissions and energy consumption of fossil fuels, and on the other, with continuing resistance to the development of renewable energy. Among the fears of the operators, there is also that of a change for the worse in the incentive system for renewables and in the rules and regulations regarding the connection of plants, which appeared in a shadow amendment to the Budget, discussed by the Commission and immediately withdrawn due to criticism from the interested sectors.

"Shows like Greenergy Expo and Enersolar+," said Gert Gremes, president of Gifi, Gruppo imprese fotovoltaiche italiane (Group of Italian Photovoltaic Companies) - are needed to send a clear message to the government that the photovoltaic industry really exists and that we must not joke about future support from this source."

According to Gianni Chianetta, president of Assosolare, associazione nazionale dell’industria fotovoltaica (National Association of the Photovoltaic Industry), "It is important that Milan, thanks to these events, becomes a protagonist in the renewables sector. The conferences were extremely interesting, and were a clear occasion of confrontation in a significant time for the entire photovoltaic sector, above all now that we are waiting for the definition of the new Energy Account (the system of incentives regarding solar electric power plants)." "Milan is strategic," he continued, "because it could represent, in the future, the connection between Italy and the Mediterranean area towards countries such as Israel, Turkey and Northern Africa, where there is an abundance of sunlight. An event which, we hope, will continue to grow and consolidate with the market for years to come."

According to Roberto Longo, president of Aper (Associazione produttori energia da fonti rinnovabili - Association of Producers of Energy from Renewable Sources): "the great participation of exhibitors, the rich panorama of events and conferences able to attract the attention of operators and the general public has now created an important industrial manufacturing chain, a strong response of Italian entrepreneurship to the crisis, which, however, still needs to grow. For this reason, experiences like this must continue, because they demonstrate that the renewables world is not just an expression of the environmental sector, but is now a continuously stronger economic reality, which must be taken into careful consideration in the country’s growth strategies. And which must be supported by institutions with clear and coherent policies."

Walter Righini, president of Fiper (Federazione italiana produttori di energia da fonti rinnovabili - Italian Federation of Producers of Energy from Renewable Sources), adds that: " shows such as Greenergy Expo and Enersolar+ are fundamental to confirm, not only among operators of the sector, but also in the general public, the importance of energy from renewable sources. And to create a sense of attention and vigilance from everyone, that enables to face up to the attacks - even those that are not so evident -against the world of clean energy and the interest of private citizens. A few days ago, just because attention and support towards these topics are extremely high, it was possible to prevent the insertion of a completely anonymous amendment to the Budget, which would have modified the system of incentives regarding renewables by means of green certificates and, above all, would have eliminated the certainty for operators of connection of their plants to the electricity grid, which, in other countries such as Germany is obligatory and is the main condition guaranteeing investments in the renewables sector. If those who invest hundreds of thousands of Euro in a biogas, biomass or other type of plant do not have the certainty of grid connection, their efforts are made useless, as are the benefits for private citizens."

The next editions of Greenergy and EnerSolar+ will be held from 17 to 19 November 2010, at fieramilano, Rho, and, like this year, will be preceded the day before by Invex 2010, the only event in the world dedicated to the inverter industry which, in its first edition, gained very significant success.

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