Eni in Abruzzo

The Protocol includes the following initiatives:

• the support and accommodation for a period of three years at structures belonging to the Eni Group of 50 PhD students and researchers from the university, also through study grants and project contracts aimed at allowing the continuation or start up of study, teaching or research activities in the energy and environmental sectors.
• the design and construction in the city of L’Aquila of a Research Centre equipped with 50 scientific laboratories and adjoining teaching and residential facilities for 100 researchers and students. On completion the Research Centre will be donated by Eni to the University of L’Aquila. The university will manage its Research Centre in complete autonomy and in recognition of Eni’s commitment to the design and construction of the new structure, the university will give to Eni the option of acquiring exclusive industrial and/or intellectual rights which the university may legitimately hold. Eni has commissioned Saipem to conduct a feasibility study and to draw up plans for the initiative.
• the completion of a feasibility study to determine the technical and economic sustainability of a highly environmentally sustainable district heating power plant with a capacity of about 120 MW, for the supply of green energy in a suitable area of the municipality of L’Aquila. This initiative will be managed by Enipower along with the local university.

In August 2009 a convention was signed between Eni and the University of  L’Aquila for a program of support for researchers and PhD students. During the same month the university published a competition for its "Un Ponte per L’Innovazione"   project, as well as that for researchers and graduate students for the 2009-2010 academic year. Evaluations were completed by the university and Eni and the selected candidates accepted the terms for study grants and internships.  More than 100 applications were received, mostly from the faculty of engineering, followed by the faculties of mathematics, physics and natural sciences, biotechnology and economics. The overall programme includes 15 internships, 7 study grants, 4 PhDs, 2 Medea master’s for a total of 28 candidates. For the PhD grants, the study areas identified by Eni include advanced solar cells, the thermal treatment of biomass and nanotechnologies.
Eni is also committed to assigning a further 6 study grants for the Medea Master’s course and 6-8 PhD grants over the next two years. 

The research centre will be located in Casal Calore (around 12 km from the centre of L'Aquila), close to the Preturo airport, on land owned by the University of Aquila.

The construction of the district heating plant, should the feasibility study confirm the technical and economic sustainability of the plan, would guarantee to the city of  L'Aquila a highly efficient supply of energy with a limited environmental impact thanks to the use of sustainable technologies.
Enipower has drawn up guidelines for the feasibility study, also indicating the activities with which the University of  L'Aquila can contribute to the study, as foreseen by the Protocol. In particular, the university will be responsible for:

• identifying the main expected users in the area of the district heating plant.
• evaluating the local availability of biomass.
• carrying out a preliminary study of the environmental impact.

To this end, a contract has been signed with the University for cooperation and the supply of professional and technical services.