The Department of Energy coordinates the ECCO-2050 project for the energy transition of cities and communities
The Department of Energy of Politecnico di Milano is the coordinator of the ECCO-2050 project (Smart Energy in Cities and Communities for 2050), led by Prof. Emanuele Martelli. The project, which also involves Politecnico di Torino, University of Parma, and University of Ferrara, aims to develop innovative tools to optimize the design and management of integrated energy systems for smart cities and energy communities, with the goal of achieving the decarbonization targets set for 2050.
The research group of Politecnico di Milano is working on the development of MY-AESOPT, an advanced software for the strategic planning of investments to improve energy efficiency and decarbonization of energy districts, municipalities, and cities.
“MY-AESOPT enables the identification of the optimal evolution of the energy mix and the investment planning (e.g., building retrofitting, construction or extension of district heating networks, installation of heat pumps, electrification of public transport, etc.) necessary to achieve carbon neutrality”
MY-AESOPT is already being used by several multinational companies to optimize the decarbonization of their plants and the design of microgrids.
Politecnico di Torino (Dr. Marta Gandiglio) will define environmental indicators to include the global impact of the analyzed technologies over their entire life cycle in the evaluation of optimal solutions. The analysis will also consider the social impact of the identified decarbonization strategies.
The University of Parma (Prof. Mirko Morini) will develop an Energy Management System (EMS) capable of minimizing both the overall system’s operating costs and its carbon emissions..
The University of Ferrara (Prof. Pier Ruggero Spina) will develop a diagnostic system to monitor and assess the state of the system, identifying potential inefficiencies and malfunctions through the creation of a data-driven digital twin.
At the current stage, researchers from Politecnico di Milano are applying the software to two representative case studies in Northern Italy: the municipality of Vigolzone (PC), selected as an example of a small-scale community, and the city of Cremona, representing a medium-sized urban area. The researchers are supported by partners such as RSE, SIRAM-Veolia, GP Infrastrutture, and E-distribuzione, who are providing the required data (energy consumption, installation/expansion costs of district heating networks, installation costs of components, etc.). The objective is to create a model replicable in other cities and energy communities to support the transition towards decarbonization in a sustainable and effective way.
The ECCO-2050 project is funded by the PRIN 2022 program, entitled “Smart Energy in Cities and Communities for 2050” (CUP: D53D23004440006), under the scientific responsibility of Prof. Emanuele Martelli of Politecnico di Milano.
