Italy's largest rooftop photovoltaic system Installed on the halls of Fiera Milano
A2A, Fondazione Fiera Milano and Fiera Milano present the solar plant capable of generating about 22 GWh of energy a year. Nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 will be avoided.
On the halls of the Fiera Milano exhibition center in Rho, Italy's largest and most powerful photovoltaic system built on rooftops and among the top 10 in the world is in operation from today.
The infrastructure built by A2A together with Fondazione Fiera - through the Fair Renew joint venture - is made up of about 50,000 photovoltaic panels, spread over 330,000 square meters of hall roofing, equal to the area of 45 soccer fields.
The facility, which is an example of national excellence in the field of renewable energy, will have an expected annual production of 21.6 GWh equal to the consumption of about 7,800 households - which will avoid the emission of more than 9,800 tons of CO2 per year and a total installed capacity of 18 MWp. The photovoltaic system will meet part of Fiera Milano's needs for the exhibition center in Rho, while the remaining portion of the green energy will be fed into the grid.
"This project is an important technological milestone for the development of renewables and a confirmation of A2A's key role in favor of the country's energy transition. It is an infrastructure in line with the strategy of our Industrial Plan to 2035, which envisages investments of 22 billion euros also earmarked for the development and strengthening of the grids, which are essential to drive our cities along the path to decarbonization - says Renato Mazzoncini, CEO, A2A - The Fiera Milano plant, at the moment a unique infrastructure in Italy, represents a replicable model for urban transformation. We will keep working to meet the challenges of the future, consolidating our commitment to the renewable energy sector."
"Building this facility is part of the investments included in the business plan, which includes, among its strategic routes, initiatives and projects aimed at supporting the ecological transition of the exhibition and congress districts by investing in highly sustainable and innovative infrastructures and solutions," explains Enrico Pazzali, President, Fondazione Fiera Milano. - "The facility we are presenting today confirms Fondazione's role as a proactive shareholder in making Fiera Milano increasingly competitive and sustainable with the modernization of its facilities also through new business opportunities, as in the case of the adaptation of the halls in view of the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games."
"This photovoltaic plant represents one of the most important points from the new integrated sustainability plan 2024-2027," comments Francesco Conci, CEO and General Manager, Fiera Milano. "Fiera Milano considers sustainability as a fundamental element of its development strategy. Sustainability now becomes a qualifying factor for attracting and hosting large touring events, and we strongly believe that it can be a competitive advantage and a key factor in driving business growth. The integrated sustainability plan unveiled last month incorporates 30 quantitative goals. Among them, we set a goal to increase the percentage of electricity from renewable sources from 38 percent to 70 percent. In addition, as already anticipated in the 2024-2027 strategic plan, we are working on a new event dedicated to technologies for decarbonizing industrial processes."
The plant, construction of which started in 2020, was completed in three phases: April 2022 saw the delivery of the first part, 12 sections covering an area of 200,000 square meters, with a power output of 8.2 MWp and an annual energy production of about 10 GWh; the second phase, completed in February this year, saw the construction of an additional 5 sections covering 60,000 square meters, with 4 MWp of power and a production of about 5 GWh; with the last phase, marking the completion of the work, 4 sections were added, with 5.8 MWp of power and a production of 7 GWh.
In addition, as of 2020, 100 percent of the electricity used by Fiera Milano Congressi for the Allianz MiCo Convention Center in Milan will come from renewable sources covered by the relevant guarantee of origin certificates.
Moreover, with its approximately 22 GWh, the system installed in Fiera Milano is the first in terms of efficiency among European fairgrounds and ranks ahead of Barcelona (5.9 GWh), Stuttgart (4.3) and Munich (2.7): a record that confirms Gruppo Fiera Milano’s focus on sustainability and energy transition.