Featured image credit: Udinese
Udinese and Bluenergy Group have announced the start of construction on a photovoltaic system on the roof of the Serie A club’s home stadium.
Bluenergy Group, an Italian utilities firm, acquired naming rights to Udinese’s stadium in September. The five-year deal officially rebranded the venue as Bluenergy Stadium.
The new project will see over 2,400 solar panels fitted. The panels will help produce around 3,000 kWh/day, enabling the stadium to become partially self-sufficient.
Bluenergy Group is developing the photovoltaic system with support from the Polytechnic University of Milan as an energy advisor. The collaboration is focused on identifying suitable technology for the project, a technical assessment of the system with a view to self-consumption, and analysis of the possibility of adopting other technologies and models to aid the energy transition.
The solar panels will cover a total surface area of 4,615 square metres and will be laid in two parallel sections across the entire stadium roof, integrating with the venue’s architectural design by Studio Casamonti.
The project team is also assessing the possibility of adding a 330 kW battery storage park to ensure longer charge and discharge cycles and enhance the potential of the system, which is expected to come into operation by October.
Bluenergy Group has worked with Udinese since 2018 and has provided the club with purely renewable energy. The company has helped Udinese save 5,620 tonnes of CO2.
Franco Collavino, managing director of Udinese, said: “Innovation and environmental awareness continue to play a central role in Udinese Calcio’s decision-making. This is another reason why we’re thrilled to make our stadium even greener, with the invaluable help of Bluenergy.
“We have been recognised as the most sustainable club in Italy and the fourth most sustainable in the world. This motivates both us and Bluenergy, one of the key players in Italy’s energy transition, to promote projects that give further momentum to this commitment.
“Football has an unparalleled presence in mass media and, in addition to our own responsibility to act in a moral way, we have a duty to spread messages that encourage fans to come together in the fight against climate change.”
Alberta Gervasio, chief executive of Bluenergy Group, added: “We have worked passionately and determinedly on this project and now it is finally a reality. Together with Udinese Calcio, we are proud of being the developers of an energy system capable of combining sustainability, energy efficiency and return to the local area.
“Alongside the numerous activities we carry out daily, participating in this project means that we are even more involved in the sustainable economic development of the local area. Sustainability plays an essential role in the lives of businesses and individuals, and it is a concrete investment both in terms of quality of life and economic gain for the region.”
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