Twin transition: the ‘dual transition’ in both digital and green energy sectors. These are the key words that guide Terna's efforts in creating an electrical system that is increasingly sustainable, efficient, reliable, and accessible. A challenge as ambitious as it is complex, requiring innovation and cutting-edge technologies. Solutions that take time, dedication, and vision, rooted in the idea of a future that is both decarbonised and digitalised. This is why Terna focuses on innovative technologies to address the challenges of the future electricity system, forging partnerships and investing in innovative startups that, from bold and forward-thinking ideas, develop models and tools to enhance the management of a national power grid centred on renewable, non-schedulable and intermittent energy sources. Silicon Valley is the heart of the global innovation ecosystem, offering a space to seek new technological solutions to support the system while also promoting Italian innovation in the hub where transformative ideas originate.
In San Francisco, Italian startups come together to tackle the challenges of the twin transition
Terna organises the first Innovation Zone Forum in Silicon Valley, dedicated to the future of the electrical grid. The CEO Giuseppina Di Foggia: «Our goal is to position ourselves as a leading company in technological innovation, supporting a fair green energy and digital transition».
«San Francisco is the ideal place to tackle the technological challenges of the transition together: our approach is focused on collaboration with the most recognised technological players, carried out through the Terna Innovation Zones, which are key hubs of our presence in global innovation ecosystems».
It is within this context that the Innovation Zone Forum takes place, the first major international initiative organised by Terna as part of its Innovation Zone in Silicon Valley. A series of events organised by the Group in San Francisco with the support of the Italian Innovation Centre at INNOVIT (Italian Innovation and Culture Hub), the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco, and partner Mind the Bridge. Two days of Forum, held in late October, dedicated to discussions with international energy players and investors and promoting the startups the Group collaborates with.
Because there are many new companies in Italy capable of developing groundbreaking ideas (over 14,000, according to data from the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy). Realities that, according to research conducted by the study centres of Assolombarda, Unione Industriali Torino and Confindustria Genova, by 2023, have created more than 63,000 jobs, with an annual employment growth rate between 20% and 30%, and which, economically, have generated a total turnover of 12.8 billion euros (based on available 2023 financial statements), producing an added value of 3 billion euros last year. However, many of these startups need support to grow, promote themselves and reach global excellence. Only then will they be able to make an impact on our future. This is where initiatives like Terna's Innovation Zone Forum become crucial.
The Group’s delegation was directly led by CEO Giuseppina Di Foggia, who explains: «Terna aims to position itself as a leading company in technological innovation, supporting a fair green energy and digital transition. The Innovation Zone Forum has strengthened our role as a hub for international innovation players, starting with those in the energy sector. As a strategic company for the country - continues Di Foggia - we have the responsibility to promote Italy's excellence in innovation abroad. This is why we have launched a programme to support startups, working side by side with them to prepare them for the US market, bringing them to San Francisco and introducing them to new contacts and potential investors from the Bay Area, to whom they presented their technologies. The goal is to secure new clients and investors in the US. We believe in the innovative solutions put forward by these startups and, in particular, in their ability to stand alongside us in tackling the technological challenges of the energy transition».
But what are the innovative startups Terna is betting on to shape the electric system of the future? During the first day of the Terna Innovation Zone Forum, dedicated to the Italian Energy Showcase, five Italian startups presented their technologies for the energy sector to innovators and investors in Silicon Valley, with solutions tested by the company managing the national electricity grid in its role as an industrial validator. Some of these companies are, in fact, part of Terna Forward’s portfolio, the Group’s Corporate Venture Capital vehicle; others have collaborated with Terna on key projects for the company.
«With Terna's Innovation Zone Forum in San Francisco, we aim to support the national innovation ecosystem through concrete actions to promote and showcase startups, engaging with the innovative players that form our international network, adds Carla Napolitano, Head of Innovation at Terna. This initiative was, in fact, a significant moment of discussion: we brought together energy sector players from Europe and the United States, alongside clean tech investors, to reflect on common needs and technological solutions for the electric system of the future. Our approach - Napolitano continues - is strongly focused on open innovation and aims to accelerate technology adoption by identifying, testing and validating advanced and innovative solutions that have a tangible impact on our business and can enable an even more efficient and sustainable management of electrical infrastructures», she concludes.
Let’s get to know each of the startups that participated in Terna’s Innovation Zone Forum in San Francisco through the words of those who created and developed these ideas.
Eoliann is a Turin-based climate tech startup that uses satellite data and machine learning algorithms to predict the likelihood, intensity, and impact of extreme weather events. «Thanks to us, our customers can easily access a range of data that provides them with all the information they need to protect their operations» explain the founders. With Eoliann's satellite images and models, Terna has the ability to improve the calculation and assessment of hydraulic hazards: a solution useful in planning new power lines as well as managing existing ones.
«We process weather and climate data to help businesses mitigate climate-related risks and reduce losses» highlights Hypermeteo. Specifically, this startup provides Terna with data, models, and scenarios to forecast electricity demand and production up to 15 days in advance, in order to optimise the subsequent management of the electricity market.
«At MelaWorks, our main goal is simple but essential: to digitalise construction sites. Digitising construction sites brings immense value in terms of efficiency, simplification, and risk reduction» emphasises the startup, in which Terna has invested through Terna Forward, the Group's Corporate Venture Capital vehicle.
The startup Wesii focuses on remote sensing, «which means flying planes and drones over photovoltaic and wind power plants, with the goal of helping clients save both energy and maintenance costs» explain the startup’s experts. The investment in Wesii was Terna Forward's first direct investment in an innovative SME, and in March 2024, it completed an investment round alongside DXT Commodities S.A. (DXT), a company of the Duferco Group.
Last but not least, Wsense is a deep-tech company that was founded as a spin-off from the La Sapienza University of Rome, specialising in wireless underwater monitoring and communication solutions. Together with Wsense, Terna has developed a unique innovation project in the underwater sector, known as the Internet of Underwater Things.
«In the Piombino channel, we have tested the IoUT technology with Wsense using a system of underwater sensors connected to each other in an underwater Wi-Fi network. Silicon Valley is the perfect place to create value for the startups we support, also through investments made by Terna Forward, our "special purpose vehicle" aimed at identifying the best technological opportunities and high-potential ventures to accelerate the twin transition in both green energy and digital».
The second day of the Innovation Zone Forum took place at the Mind the Bridge headquarters and was focused on the "Energy Industry Innovation Talk: Focus on Grid". The companies and investors in attendance, discussed and identified common challenges and technological solutions for managing the future electricity grid. One of the concrete examples of innovative technologies presented during the day was that proposed by Unusual, a startup in which Terna and the Spanish transmission grid operator have invested through their respective Corporate Venture Capital vehicles. The startup offers an asset management solution based on software that utilises artificial intelligence and advanced visual data analysis. «We are able to automatically detect anomalies in the electricity grid, providing an innovative approach to asset management» highlights Unusual.
In summary, at the heart of the discussions in California were innovative solutions, projects, and know-how necessary to address the current and future challenges of the energy and digital transitions, aligning with Terna's strategy, which in its 2024-2028 Industrial Plan has marked a significant acceleration in investments, amounting to approximately 2 billion euros over the plan period (+60% compared to the previous Industrial Plan), focused on innovation, technologies, and digital tools for a more connected, smart, and secure grid.