We made more than 200 new proposals to the program and secured around 50 new projects, showing a significant increase in our success rate for proposals.
We are delighted with this attainment and are optimistic for the future as Horizon Europe progresses,
and the project budgets continue to grow.
Decarbonisation continues to be a key focus for RINA. Our research in 2022
included projects to decarbonise shipping using hydrogen and ammonia and our biggest research project
to date which is investigating ways to decarbonise heavy industry, with a particular focus on the
steel sector.
Other work included the continued research into the decarbonisation of European islands with the
NESOI Project. This followed the hugely successful SMILE project in 2021, and the work is expected to pave the way for
training, technical support, cooperation and funding opportunities for islands. The project also aims
to set up a physical and digital platform to provide technical assistance to local authorities and
communities to obtain funding and competencies to deploy investments required to realise an island's
energy transition plans.
After launching ENGIMMONIA in 2021, the ZHENIT project, which started in 2022, is working towards the 2030
IMO/EU targets for shipping sector decarbonisation using Waste Heat Recovery (WHR). ZHENIT aims to
release the onboard WHR potential by developing and validating solutions that exploit WH for different
onboard services, including cooling, power and desalination.
Other projects in 2022 included “Auto-DAN”, which proposes
solutions for optimised energy consumption in buildings by relying on advanced technologies such as
augmented intelligence and the DATA CELLAR project, which aims
at creating an inclusive energy data space that makes interaction easy and implementing a
collaborative platform to supply interoperable, modular and secure access to data sets, decision
support tools and AI models.
At the end of 2022, RINA started coordinating the “OnePlanet”
project. It aims to propose a new model for Africa’s sustainable future by developing a
common nexus modelling framework to simulate and evaluate pathways. The model will include information
on the interlinkages of water, energy and food with other sectors, such as the economy, ecosystems,
society, climate and land.
We were delighted that the MUSE-GRIDS
project, which RINA also coordinated, was awarded the INNOVATION prize for 2022 at the
European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). This project investigates technological and
non-technological solutions to optimise the management of energy networks in local communities,
looking at areas including electricity grids, district heating and cooling networks, water networks,
gas grids, e-mobility, etc. The project focused on two locations, a town on a top of a hill in Italy,
Osimo and a rural neighbourhood in Oud Heverlee, Belgium, to show ways to maximise local energy
independency through optimised management of the production via end user-driven control strategies,
smart grid functionality, storage, CHP and RES integration.
The first demonstration of the easy-to-install, easy-to-transport hydrogen Fuel Cell based
transportable gensets produced from the EVERYWH2ERE project was
in March 2022 at a construction site in San Sebastian, Spain and lasted until July 2022. A 100 kW
EVERYWH2ERE genset powered one of the eight tower cranes providing 533 hours of effective operation
and the supply of about 1 MWh to the construction site.
A second demonstration at the MotorLand motorcycling circuit in Aragon, Spain, during the MotoGP
race in September 2022 was also a huge success. A 100 kW EVERYWH2ERE genset powered the giant screen
in front of the main grandstand. A 25 KW EVERYWH2ERE genset was also demonstrated during the Hydrogen
Energy Summit & Expo (HESE) in Bologna, Italy, where, over three days, it powered the “Hydrogen
EVERYWH2ERE” panel, screens, heaters and laptops in the booth.
2022 also saw the start of the RINA Active program, promoting a
culture of innovation within the business. Looking forward and as RINA continues to grow
internationally, innovation in our Research, using ideas from all colleagues throughout the
world, will ensure we continue to produce the tools and services that will support our
customers into the future. Innovation is a mindset, and we want to stimulate the sharing of
ideas, especially from our younger colleagues that offer a fresh perspective, to give us a
strong platform of innovation and excellence.
For 2023, our main goals are to maintain our good participation level in Horizon Europe,
deliver successful proposals, and provide excellent technical results to help sustain our
business, customers, and planet.
