PHOTO | VIDEO | Journey to the heart of Hera's 'tech' jewels in Forlì and Ravenna

Doors open in Hera's two remote control centers in Forlì and Ravenna analysis centers on the occasion of Earth Day on 22 April

BOLOGNA – Hera's 'tech' jewels on display for World Earth Day.In view of April 22nd, the multiutility opens the doors of the two Telecontrol centers in Forlì and Analysis centers in Ravenna, centers with a high concentration of innovation and technology, to illustrate the functioning of rooms and laboratories, with the aim of showing the group's efforts towards strengthening infrastructure, predictive processes and remote management to improve services and attention to the fight against climate change.Fundamental in the daily monitoring of all the group's activities, from real-time control of all systems of the group until 2,000 analyzes of water samples per day which make the tap one "the most controlled ever", the two plants have also proven essential in the management of emergencies, as in the case of the flood in Emilia-Romagna last year or the Suviana tragedy.

THE FORLÌ CENTER

It starts with the remote control technology hub and technical call center for networks and systems, in Forlì, inaugurated in 2008 and recently renovated with a total investment of 14 million euros.Thanks to a high use of innovative technology, the same which is the basis of the functioning of large global infrastructures such as the New York subway, the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl power plant or the Zurich airport, monitors over 10,000 gas distribution systems 24 hours a day, integrated water and district heating of the Hera Group, with approximately 800,000 sensors distributed along 74,000 kilometers of networks, receiving 47 million data per day, and also deals with public lighting and traffic lights in more than 180 municipalities.

In the Forlì technological hub, on the one hand, the operators receive alarm and emergency response reports and manage the flow of interventions remotely, on the other, a pool of electronic and IT technicians governs the remote control system, guaranteeing its continuity.AND among the most advanced entities of this type in Europe, as demonstrated by the enormous 60 square meter screen in the center of the monitoring room which reveals the trend in the area, the heart of the centre, in real time.And it also proved to be fundamental in management of extraordinary events such as the flood of May 2023, where he acted as the 'control room' of the emergency in collaboration with the institutions and the police, catalysing the information and then distributing it to the operational structures.

“We were a point of reference for citizens who wanted answers and who felt isolated, especially here in Forlì, which was one of the areas that suffered the most damage from citizens who found mud at home,” explains Sandro Boarini, responsible of the structure.At the remote control and network management hub, the use ofartificial intelligence through them Machine learning algorithms:an example is the case of the Padua aqueduct managed by AcegasApsAmga, for which a real-time water demand forecasting system was developed using models that take into account all the data and factors that can affect consumption trends.

THE RAVENNA LABORATORY

The Ravenna Laboratory, managed by Hera tech, deals with environmental analyses in concert with the Sasso Marconi (Bologna) headquarters, which specializes in drinking and waste water, which together produce 1.5 million analyzes per year. The Ravenna facility was inaugurated in 2022 with an investment of five million euros and equipped with sophisticated technologies for the analysis of solid waste, sludge, organic micro-pollutants and air emissions, and the monitoring of water, odors, the presence of asbestos or so-called 'emerging' contaminants, coming from production processes such as Pfas or from cosmetics or drugs, monitored with latest generation microscopes and spectrometers.More than one are conducted here 550 analyzes per day to ensure the protection of public health and the safety of citizens.Here too, the role of 'sentinel' of the supply chain he stood out in times of emergency, as in the case of the recent Suviana tragedy, for having verified whether the water in the basin, which serves the population of Bologna, had been contaminated following the explosion of the turbine of the Bargi hydroelectric power plant.

Our sampling teams went to the site immediately that evening to immediately monitor the quality of the water", recalls Chiara Lambertini, Head of Laboratories of the Hera Group.
Thanks to sampling and analysis, biogas emissions from composting and biomethane production plants, landfills and biological purifiers are then constantly monitored, in short the entire cycle that follows the concept of 'circular economy' dear to Hera, evaluating its impact chemical and biological.

Hera's laboratories also push hard on innovation, with experiments to accompany the transition towards hydrogen or cutting-edge instruments to intercept new micropollutants.“In the past there wasn't the technology that allowed us to see them in the face - continues Lambertini - water speaks about us, it reflects our uses and consumption.We find psychotropic substances, we find drug residues, Covid... we must be aware of this and find new solutions from here."