Eni and Politecnico di Torino launch marine energy research lab

Politecnico di Torino and Eni have opened a joint research laboratory MORE – Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab to step up the innovation in marine renewable energy sector.

The MORE laboratory further reinforces the partnership agreement between Politecnico di Torino and Eni, outlined in January 2020, to pool together researchers to maximise expertise on marine energy and accelerate industrial deployment of sea power technologies.

The work to be performed in the lab is expected to fuel the expansion of research into sea energy sources, from wave power to offshore wind and solar power, as well as ocean and tidal currents, and salinity gradient.

MORE Lab is located at Politecnico di Torino, where it will benefit from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering research infrastructures, and be complemented by two Eni’s facilities: Eni Marine Virtual Lab, and Eni open sea test area in Ravenna.

Moreover, MORE will collaborate with the
Politecnico testing site in Pantelleria, where sea technologies are being
tested within an island ecosystem, with the aim of proving the potential
self-sufficiency of energy production that has no impact on the landscape.

There are around 50 researchers involved
with MORE Lab activities, according to Eni, including permanent staff, doctoral
students and undergraduates of Politecnico.

The team will work with Eni’s people to
develop sector-specific expertise and to finalise the industrial deployment of
the technologies. MORE will also benefit from a tank for naval tests,
state-of-the-art labs to develop and dry test prototypes, and a high performing
data centre

Additionally, the laboratory will make use
of a sector-specific chair in ‘Energy from the Sea’, in order to train
engineers specialised in planning, producing and using the new technologies
developed on site.

Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s CEO, said: “Eni’s commitment in the development of key technologies for decarbonisation is further strengthened by the research led with Politecnico di Torino in the Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab. Our goal is to optimise existing technologies to make them even more efficient, competitive and therefore accelerate the industrialisation process of marine energies”.

The Rector of the Politecnico, Guido Saracco, added: “Developing innovative solutions in the renewable energy and sustainability sector in close collaboration with the industry – and therefore readily available for the market – is especially crucial.

“The laboratories and research projects developed with Eni in the MORE Lab will be pivotal in the next years for their significant contribution in finding solutions for the decarbonisation and emission reduction targets set by the EU”.