With COP26 providing a unique platform for new ideas to flourish, European green energy provider ERG is holding an inspirational contest that will allow young peoples' views on creating a sustainable future to be considered by top industry figures. By Anthony Harrington
With Italy and Scotland jointly hosting COP26, green power provider ERG is deeply involved in a programme of supporting activities. The programme began in Milan, which hosted Youth COP26 from September 27-30, and will continue through COP26 and beyond via the company’s ERGLab events.
Luca Bragoli, ERG’s Chief Regulatory & Public Affairs Officer explained ERG’s line up of events. “We began with our Hackathon event in Genoa, which was conceived as a warm-up event for COP26. We invited teams of young people to pitch ideas about what we should include, from a sustainability perspective in a long-term business plan for ERG’s which goes beyond the current 2021-26 plan,” he comments.
“We wanted them to focus on what it would mean to be a sustainable, green power company in the coming decades, and what ERG’s role should be in the medium to long term.”
The focus was on ESG considerations, not particularly on technologies. Bragoli and his senior colleagues were very keen to hear, and potentially to adopt, the views of today’s youth as to what the drivers of the company should be in future years and decades.
The teams consisted of a total of 38 students divided into 12 teams. Their projects were written up and submitted, and all the teams were given the opportunity to present their proposals in a three-minute speech to a jury. The jury consisted of ERG executives and representatives from local institutions.
The prize for the winning team is the chance to present their view of the future at COP26, in Glasgow, in November. The winning team will also be invited to present to ERG’s top management and could well see some of their ideas embodied in ERG’s next business plan.
“We are constantly asking ourselves how we can help the planet by minimising the environmental damage done by industrial activities. We want to exploit the best ideas we can find and we want to explore what we as an organisation can do for the local communities that we work with across the UK and Europe,” Bragoli says.
As he notes, ERG is already one of the world’s top sustainability companies, and COP26 is a great opportunity to consider what lies beyond Net Zero. “As a company, we are already very aligned to the goals that are driving this global gathering of world leaders.”
“We have already set ourselves the goal, as a company, of being carbon neutral by 2025, but we do not want to stop there. One of the things we are hoping for from the youth Hackathon is to help us articulate the direction we need to go in to continue to be at the forefront of sustainability,” he comments.
At Youth COP26 in Milan, ERG also hosted a panel discussion, where the panel consisted of professionals and stakeholders from Italian institutions. The panel discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities that companies face on their path towards sustainability and carbon neutrality.
“We invited students to participate and to pose questions to the panel. One of the things that emerged very clearly from that discussion was that students were very positive about onshore wind. They were more than ready to accept the presence of clean power generation technologies in the places where they lived,” Bragoli said.
At COP26 in Glasgow, ERG will be talking about its own sustainability journey. The company has transformed itself from a leading oil and refining company in Italy to one focussed wholly on green power across Europe. It will also be showcasing the way it is helping the UK and Scottish governments, along with other European governments, to meet their carbon reduction targets.
“At COP26 we expect the world to be really focussed on the importance of shifting from fossil fuels to green energy,” Bragoli comments.
“A few years ago, people were talking about gas as a ‘clean’ fuel. It has a lower carbon footprint than oil, but it is still a fossil fuel. Recent events with the gas shortages across Europe have shown that gas is too problematic for countries to remain dependent on it.
“We want to showcase the fact that there are technologies now that can deliver the world’s energy requirements in a more stable fashion and at lower prices. We need to ramp up the installed capacity of renewable power, which includes solar as well as onshore and offshore wind.
“The two technologies are highly complementary. We also want to see breakthroughs made in various types of storage, such as batteries, liquid air, thermal, and also in green hydrogen.
If we can get all these things working together, we are certain that renewable power holds the answer to the world’s energy needs,” he comments.
Another part of the answer, Bragoli suggests, lies in repowering existing wind sites across Europe. ERG has led the way by pioneering repowering at some of its sites in Italy.
The process involves replacing the older turbines with fewer, but much more powerful latest-generation turbines, and replacing the blades with newly designed composite blades capable of generating more power at lower wind speeds.
“With repowering you get a significantly higher power output from the same site with less turbines. More for less is always a great argument and you improve the efficiency of your power production.
“There is tremendous scope for repowering the older wind farms right across Europe,” he comments.
“We are really looking forward to COP26. We have collaborated with the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Glasgow University, and other Italian industrial players on the only event organised by an Italian Institution showcasing Italian industry expertise during COP26 in which we will highlight ERG’s own transition story, showing how we have turned ourselves into a company solely focused on green power generation, and on the important roles coming generations will play in the energy transition.
“Finally, we are delighted to be part of the official programme for COP 26, which itself highlights the importance of international cooperation in the fight against excessive climate change.”
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ERGLab formulates plans for the future
WITH so much riding on the practical outcomes that are expected to flow from COP26, analysing and following what happens once the delegates have all gone back home will be of immense interest and importance.
For some time now ERG has hosted a series of closed conferences, under the title ERGLab, run under the Chatham House rule, to discuss public policy issues. It will be hosting an ERGLab event on 17th November, a few days after COP26 closes, with the aim of discussing the real results of COP26.
Luca Bragoli, ERG’s Chief Regulatory & Public Affairs Officer, points out that holding an event like this under the Chatham House rule is a great way for people to express their real opinions on serious matters.
“The key thing about Chatham House rule is that participants are free to use the information that emerges from the event, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers, nor that of any of the participants may be revealed. The rule was created back in 1927 and works extremely well. It frees people to speak their mind and keeps the debate real,” Bragoli says. ERG has proved the effectiveness of this approach in the past, gathering informed participants from industry and institutions for a debate on a topic of general importance.
“We have run ERGLab for years in Italy, and more recently, in France. This will be the first one we have run in the UK. We gather people from different sectors and with different experiences and expertise, to discuss subjects related to environmental and/or energy matters.
"It is a way to cross-fertilise different points of view and to find common positions. There is a document that is drafted after the debate, but it too follows Chatham House rule. It is particularly useful for exchanging ideas and perspectives on points of view on subjects that can be pretty technical. The ‘key points’ document that emerges from these events contains some very interesting proposals that have emerged from the open debate,” Bragoli comments.
The ERGLab being held on 17th November will be a great way of evaluating what has actually emerged from COP26.
“We expect it to highlight what the experts we invite think are the meaningful outcomes from COP26. There are obviously a lot of ambitions and hopes for the event among people all over the world. The ERGLab event will help to crystalise the first reactions to what has been said and promised,” he notes.
“In particular, we will be looking at the pledges that the various delegates have made and the participants in the ERGLab will be trying to decide if those promises and pledges are specific enough to base real investment decisions on.
“In recent years we have seen governments proposing really admirable long term goals and ambitions, but it is very important to try to identify the real, concrete, short term commitments from governments that one can base business decisions upon,” he concludes.
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Open invite to energy transition conference
ERG will be taking part in a conference organised with the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and will give three major companies in the UK, including ERG, the chance to discuss their vision for the future of the energy transition, presenting case studies of their experiences in the UK and discussing it with the audience attending the event. It will also be the perfect occasion to address issues like youth engagement and cross-countries collaboration.
The conference will take place during COP26 on 2nd November in Glasgow, and will be also streamed on the Italian Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel. If you would like to register to attend, in person or online, please follow the link below:
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