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Enel X, the Enel Group's global business line that offers innovative solutions in support of energy transition, and ASMEL, the Association for Subsidiarity and Modernization of Local Authorities (from the Italian, l’Associazione per la Sussidiarietà e la Modernizzazione degli Enti Locali), have signed an agreement to support energy transition. Its goals are to promote initiatives among local authorities for the creation and management of energy communities, the energy upgrading of public and private buildings, public lighting and the spread of electric mobility. The agreement is also open to other parties interested in sustainability projects.

"Thanks to the agreement with ASMEL, we are giving a decisive boost to the transition of Italian municipalities towards smarter and more sustainable urban models," says Augusto Raggi, Head of Enel X Italia. "An initiative through which we again show our focus on and closeness to the local area. These are very important aspects of the business strategy of Enel X, which develops the best solutions for energy efficiency, electrification of consumption and the spread of electric mobility, making them accessible to all."

"ASMEL, with over ten years of experience in the modernization of municipal services,” explains Francesco Pinto, Secretary-General of the Association, “is entering the Protocol to bring innovation in the sustainable energy sector to local authorities that are still lagging behind. Moreover, municipalities can make substantial savings thanks to energy efficiency and shared production of renewable energy, generating new revenue to be used in services to citizens. New revenues that the authorities badly need, after so many years of spending reviews."

Thanks to Enel X's commitment to developing smart solutions for energy efficiency, public lighting and electric mobility, and ASMEL's deep roots in local areas, initiatives will be implemented in support of the sustainable growth of Italian municipalities. The training and spread of energy communities, with particular focus on the management of energy consumption from renewable sources; the upgrading and energy efficiency of public and private buildings, with the installation of new photovoltaic systems or the optimization of existing ones; the modernization of the lighting systems of monuments, historical buildings and national heritage sites of artistic and architectural interest.

ASMEL has been providing support to municipalities for some time, including for the purchase of LED lightbulbs and photovoltaic systems. As well as these activities, training courses will be launched for local authority administrators and employees with experts from the Enel X e-mobility team and the industry, to make the authorities aware of the adoption of technological solutions that encourage the spread of electric mobility.

RWE’s renewable energy business in Italy is forging ahead: The company has completed the construction of its new onshore wind farm Alcamo II in Sicily. The green electricity produced by this wind farm has already been contracted to the Italian Sofidel Group on a long-term basis as part of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Sofidel is one of the largest producers of paper for hygienic and domestic uses in the world, particularly well-known for its brand ‘Regina’. The contract enabled RWE to build this wind farm without having to rely on state subsidies. For its part, thanks to the agreement, Sofidel will come a great deal closer to meeting its ambitious climate protection goals and strengthens its commitment to a sustainable future for people and planet.

The new wind farm consists of four Goldwind turbines (GW 136-3.4MW) with a total installed capacity of 13.6 megawatts (MW). The PPA with Sofidel enabled the realisation of Alcamo II by providing financial stability through contracting 26 gigawatt hours per year as the sole corporate off-taker. As part of the deal, Sofidel purchases all the guarantees of origin this wind park produces. The long-term contract started in early-April 2021 and will run until end of 2030.

Sofidel regards this long-term partnership as a responsible way to promote a multi-stakeholder approach for sustainable development. “The agreement with RWE represents a major step toward our carbon footprint reduction goals. Sofidel emissions reduction targets – -40% emissions per ton of paper by 2030 compared with 2018 base year – have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as consistent with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” states Riccardo Balducci, Sofidel Energy & Environment Director. “This is also in line with what the latest climate science says is needed to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. In our commitment to a low carbon economy we regard PPAs as an useful and effective tool to source renewable power for our industrial operations and, at the same time, trigger the creation of additional generation capacity, aimed at sustaining the green energy transition.”

Katja Wünschel, Chief Operating Officer Wind Onshore & Photovoltaics Europe & Asia Pacific at RWE Renewables, adds: “Italy is one of our core markets. The country is seeing continued expansion of renewables and we are happy to contribute to this development with our Alcamo II wind farm and future projects. I am particularly pleased that, in cooperation with Sofidel, we have succeeded in building this wind farm without any state subsidies. In addition it is worldwide our first wind farm for which we used turbines from the manufacturer Goldwind. During the successful realisation of this project, our Italian team gained a lot of experience, which will help us to further broaden our supplier portfolio globally.”

RWE has many years of extensive experience in the renewables sector. In its strategic core market of Italy a team of more than 100 employees covers the entire value chain from project development, engineering, construction and operation up to the delivering of green electricity to corporations such as Sofidel through PPAs. In addition to the wind farms already in operation with a capacity of around 442 MW (pro-rata view), the Italian development pipeline includes further renewables projects in various stages of development and spread across the entire country. Globally, RWE currently has a renewables portfolio of more than 9 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity. From 2020 until 2022, RWE Renewables targets to invest €5 billion net in renewable energy and to grow its global renewables portfolio to 13 GW of net capacity.

"Who are the people depicted in the Primavera and why are they dancing in an orchard instead of a ballroom?" or "Why was the Medusa painted on a shield?" These are just some of the questions posed by the young protagonists of the Pills of Art Junior series, now online in Italian and English on the Menarini Group YouTube channel, aimed at getting the younger generations interested in some of the world's timeless masterpieces. These short videoclips reveal anecdotes, details and unprecedented curiosities on some of the most famous works of art, mainly from the Italian Renaissance period, thanks to simple and straightforward questions put by children and teenagers to the (almost) equally young art experts.

Caravaggio's Medusa, Botticelli's Primavera and Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola are the first Menarini Pills of Art Junior now available on this new channel, but these videos shall shortly be increased, month after month, with other similar short videos, in a new section, alongside the already very popular Menarini Pills of Art. The Menarini Pills of Art are brief video clips, just over one minute long, which have achieved an incredible success with 18 million views in eight different languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Turkish, and Chinese), generating an interest in a high number of viewers and bringing people closer to the world of art.

"The world of art is made up of colours, of stories, of fascinating characters which, when explained in a more 'traditional' way, using lesser known terms and language, may often seem boring, particularly to children," commented Lucia and Alberto Giovanni Aleotti, shareholders and members of the Menarini Board. "With the Menarini Pills of Art Junior we wanted to see art through the eyes of children and teenagers, with the same sense of curiosity, as if they were on a journey that takes them on a voyage of discovery of a different world of art, rich in colours of all different shades, full of legends and fun capable of making us all notice details which we, as adults, have long stopped noticing."

The Menarini Pills of Art Junior represents just one of the steps in a long journey which started more than 60 years ago with the first publication of the Menarini art monographs, still published today. Following on from there the journey continued with brief videos, confirming once again, Menarini's longstanding appreciation of Italian art.

Watch the Menarini Pills of Art Junior on: https://bit.ly/3wESgYT and the Menarini Pills of Art on: https://bit.ly/3mITs9b.

On April 12 and 13, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio will pay an official visit to Washington, where he will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Among the various commitments on the agenda is a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and participation in the high-level event for the celebration of 160 years of diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States.

Minister Di Maio is the first Foreign Minister to be received by the new Biden Administration.