Integrated Projects in the Field of Circular Economy for Energy, Agriculture, and Innovation
Agrifuture, through its subsidiaries Mercurio srl and Venere srl, is carrying out two integrated projects in the municipalities of Conza della Campania and Sant’Andrea di Conza (AV), and Stigliano (MT).
The goal is to create a circular economy model, replicable in other territories, which unites renewable energy, sustainable crops, and scientific research.
The projects implement precision and organic agriculture that generates greater added value; there are also plans to activate industrial processes downstream of the agricultural activity itself.
A central role is assigned to research and innovation: both projects include the creation of dedicated pilot laboratories for agro-biological improvement opportunities, as well as the study and extraction of high-value molecules from crops and agricultural by-products. In particular, the focus is on the optimization of industrial processes, the development of new extraction technologies, and the identification of patentable active ingredients destined for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry.
An Integrated Strategy for a Sustainable Future
The two projects are developed along three common guidelines:
- Clean Energy: production from new-generation agrivoltaic plants
- Sustainable and Organic Agriculture: cultivation, for example of lavender on a large scale, which can be combined with agro-industrial initiatives to produce greater added value and increase the rate of technology in the area.
- Waste Valorization: recovery of agricultural by-products and transformation into new resources in order to eliminate waste (zero waste)
Project 1 — Conza della Campania and Sant’Andrea di Conza (AV)
Agrivoltaic Plant Characteristics:
Power of approximately 15.31 MW using high-efficiency bifacial panels with solar tracking, automated control, and production analysis through artificial intelligence.
Expected Benefits:
- Collection of storable rainwater from the panel surface.
- Lavender Cultivation: over an area of approximately 34 hectares.
- Processing/Transformation:
- Extraction of essential oils with supercritical CO₂
- Production of compost through pyrolytic aerobic digestion.
- Construction of a chemical laboratory for production control.
- Research oriented toward improving the quality and yield of crops and products, and identifying new molecules usable in the chemical-pharmaceutical or cosmetic fields.
Total Investment:
approximately 33 million euros
Project 2 — Stigliano (MT)
Agrivoltaic Plant Characteristics:
Power of approximately 17.92 MW using high-efficiency bifacial panels with solar tracking, automated control, and production analysis through artificial intelligence.
Expected Benefits
- Lavender Cultivation: over an area of approximately 60 hectares.
- Utilization of waste derived from the processing of approximately 120 hectares of olive grove contiguous to the lavender plant, and until now used only for oil production.
- Processing/Transformation:
- Recovery and valorization of by-products from the olive and lavender supply chains.
- Extraction, from lavender flowers, olive leaves, and vegetation water, of essential oils and extracts using supercritical CO₂.
- Aerobic digestion for compost production.
