History, culture, local areas and communities: the value of Italy's mini-hydro plants

Historical heritage and a laboratory of innovation, a resource for local areas and shared value for the communities living in them: these are hydroelectric plants with a capacity of less than 3 MW, also known as mini-hydro plants. They can be found all over Italy from north to south, and are part of a fabric that unifies the country and helps supply it with clean energy. Not only that, they stabilize the national grid. They are one of the earliest examples of distributed generation, which is a pillar of the ongoing energy transition. Today we operate as many as 249 mini-hydro power plants in Italy. They can be found in 16 of the country’s 20 regions, with a particular concentration in Tuscany, Marche, Piedmont Lombardy and Veneto. They have a total capacity of about 270 MW, for an average annual production of almost 1 TWh. This is responsible energy: that’s because these plants accelerate the decarbonization of the energy mix by lowering emissions and they are an important and sustainable resource for meeting the energy needs of local communities. Historical, cultural and artistic heritage Most of the mini-hydro plants were built in the early twentieth century, during the great era of the Italian industrial revolution. They thus accompanied Italy throughout that century. In the troubled wartime periods they were also strategic and were sometimes targeted. After being restored, they played a role in the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, later becoming co-leaders in the current transition to a clean and sustainable energy system. Today, they therefore represent historical as well as cultural and artistic heritage. This is the case, for example, with the Valpiana power plant in Tuscany, which was built in 1921 and includes a building that’s typical of the Art Nouveau style of the 1920s. It’s located in the Colline Metallifere (Metalliferous Hills) mining area and has a capacity of 270 kW. It was originally designed to supply energy to local mines by means of a small railway. Landscape and community During the course of the last 100 years, mini-hydroelectric power plants have become a landmark for local areas: the people who live there consider them to be an integral part of the landscape. Sometimes they will say: "I'm going to the power plant," which shows that it’s an iconic element of the locality that hosts it. And in small towns there are many families that have worked at the local power plant, from one generation to another. The small power plant in Perrero, which was built in Piedmont in the 1930s, is named after its founder Michele Tessore. It blends in perfectly with the mountains, so much so that it is known as "Heidi's house." Its original structure was maintained during the redevelopment work that was completed in 2017. Indeed, a small open-air museum of industrial archaeology with vintage machinery has been created to enhance its historical role. The power plant, which was initially created in order to power the important sawmills in the area, later used its approximately 50 kW of power to bring electric light to the village. Today it is the symbol of an area where two religious communities (Catholic and Waldensian) live together in harmony. Innovation gyms Past and present also meet in technological innovation, particularly in automation and robotics solutions. One of the flagships of our innovation is called Oculus: it is a robot developed by our Group and used for underground inspections in settings where access for personnel is impossible or impractical. Oculus is a low-cost, modular robot that’s easy to use and can be controlled remotely via computer screens: its activities can also be followed live during meetings by everyone taking part. Furthermore, it has been made in various versions to facilitate its use in different contexts. As part of a mini-hydro project, Oculus was deployed in the small decommissioned power plant in Ricadi, Calabria, which we are planning to reactivate: the small robot scouted the old penstock which, due to its size, does not lend itself to human inspection, and this enabled us to understand what activities need to be put in place for reactivation. And our innovation is already looking to new horizons: we are studying solutions for hybridizing hydroelectric power plants with other renewable sources, for example, by installing solar panels on the water channels connected to the power plant. Thus the present not only catches up with the past, but it also opens up to the future.

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History, culture, local areas and communities: the value of Italy's mini-hydro plants

History, culture, local areas and communities: the value of Italy's mini-hydro plants

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