Sustainability

Sustainability Framework

Both at project and corporate level, we integrate ESG considerations through strategies, processes and initiatives designed to enhance the positive consequences of our activities on the environment and society, and to reduce any negative impact.

We achieve these objectives by implementing sustainability measures throughout the entire lifecycles of our projects and by forming partnerships with local communities. This approach helps us to better understand our responsibilities and adapt stakeholder needs into project planning, development and management. We also offer a diverse and inclusive working environment for our employees.

Embedding sustainability in our business approach

Our projects are long-term oriented, and we recognise they will have a direct impact on Italy’s future energy infrastructure. With this in mind, we ensure that sustainability is embedded in our core business, focusing on assets that contribute to the challenges of climate change mitigation.

Aquila Clean Energy is committed to leaving a positive and long-lasting footprint and generating social value for communities in the regions where it is present. 

OUR AGRIVOLTAIC APPROACH

Most of Aquila Clean Energy’s solar PV projects in Italy have implemented agrivoltaics systems into their designs, creating a dual and mutually beneficial use of land for agriculture and PV power generation. This allows our projects to co-exist with their local ecosystems with reduced visual impact.

Reduced visual impact

Reduced visual impact

Compared to conventional solar farms, agrivoltaic plants are much less visible due to the presence of fruit trees, plants and crops between the rows of photovoltaic modules and along the perimeter of the solar parks which have a covering effect on the panels. This is also true for fences, which can be wooden or green, to blend in better with their surroundings.

Agricultural improvements

Agricultural improvements

Solar parks can overcome the competition for land usage between agricultural and energy production. In this way, the two land uses converge without removing crop space, while maintaining the soil’s permeability and the land’s productive cycles. This integrated approach ensures that the land can be used for emblematic local crops and, to revitalise traditional farming techniques.

Improved crop quantity and quality

Improved crop quantity and quality

Solar PV panels create dynamic shade because control units manage the panels’ movement, orienting them towards the sun. In spring and summer, this causes the temperature of the soil next to the panels to decrease, while evaporation and humidity rates increase. Crops in these areas are therefore better protected from heat and extreme weather phenomena, leading to enhanced agricultural yields.

Agricultural innovation

Agricultural innovation

By using innovative technologies, agrivoltaics make it possible to achieve maximum efficiency in energy production while maintaining the utmost respect for the environment. The most advanced agrivoltaic parks employ precision, digital agricultural instruments, including the use of technologies such as atmospheric monitoring sensors, soil humidity probes, water saving techniques and remote monitoring systems.

Recovery of abandoned lands

Recovery of abandoned lands

Agrivoltaic farms restore new life to fallow and abandoned fields, making them doubly productive in terms of agriculture and energy. In this way, the installations prevent soil impoverishment, particularly in fallow rural areas.

Respect for the ecosystem

Respect for the ecosystem

Agrivoltaic farms are designed to have minimal negative impact on the environment, instead improving the local flora and fauna .Examples of this include increasing organic matter in the soil and forming stable humus to mitigate climate changes, safeguarding the soil from the effects of erosion, protecting biodiversity, and creating new habitats for wild insects and fauna. Our projects also include zones for local micro-fauna to pass through.

Giving bees a home

Giving bees a home

Many agrivoltaic farms feature beekeeping. According to recent research from the WWF, 40% of pollinating bees and insects are endangered. Since pollination enables the production of 80% of the plant species intended for human nutrition, land with agrivoltaic farms is ideal for creating new wild bee colonies. Beehives can be established, with wild flowers, grass species and leguminous essences planted nearby for the bees to feed on.

Job creation

Job creation

Solar farms create new job opportunities and do not mean that agricultural income is lost, because farmers and/or breeders have essential roles. While conventional photovoltaics generally result in limited job creation, agrivoltaic farms require on-site labour to maintain the fields, irrigate crops and carry out all related activities. In this sense, agrivoltaics generates value for local communities through sustainable job creation.

la bella campagna italiana

Value creation for the local region

Value creation for the local region

Every agrivoltaic plant creates opportunities for positive social impact on the local area , and when combined with other private initiatives, solar farms can enrich local communities. For example, residents can benefit from complementary measures, such as upgraded roads, enhanced lighting systems, renovated buildings and preservation of local landmarks. Farms can also spur cultural, educational and training initiatives that instil the importance of respect for nature in the community.

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