ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development

Fragments of rock buried for millions of years have been extracted, and the drilling borehole beneath the Antarctic ice sheet has been diverted. These are among the achievements of the latest campaign of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice research project, which over six years involved twelve research institutions from ten European countries. The results obtained during this recent expedition will pave the way for new scientific challenges. For the first time, by analysing the information contained within an ice core, scientists will obtain a continuous record of the Earth’s climate dating back 1.2 million

With 122 million hours of computation in one year, the ENEA CRESCO supercomputer has contributed significantly to international scientific research, becoming an essential infrastructure for research centers, universities and companies and enabling activities in various application areas, from nuclear energy to materials science, from molecular dynamics to biotechnology and for climate, energy and digital transition, as shown in the report High Performance Computing on CRESCO infrastructure: research activity and results 2024, which collected data on the use of CRESCO.

Small-scale sodium-cooled fast modular reactors characterized by greater safety, sustainability, and economic efficiency are at the forefront of next-generation nuclear power, which the European ESFR-SIMPLE  project aims to integrate into the European energy system. ENEA is participating in the project, focusing on safety and optimization of nuclear fuel.

ENEA in-depth analysis for the annual European Public Investment Outlook (EPIO) report ,  which dedicated its 2025 edition to the energy transition, shows how the European energy system is losing competitiveness, having moved further and further away from the 2030 decarbonization targets over the last 10 years.

Developing a high-tech system for producing vegetables, fruit and fish with low environmental impact in urban, disused and school environments thanks to aquaponics, a technology combining aquaculture and hydroponics (soilless plant cultivation), is the objective of the project DEMETRA, funded by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy with over €5 million. The project involves ENEA, which collaborates with the Federico II University of Naples, the CAISIAL consortium, and the companies FOS (lead partner), IRCI and Grafica Metelliana.

Developing a more efficient, economical and sustainable innovative linear parabolic solar collector compared to conventional technologies and capable of producing high-temperature heat on demand, through an integration with molten salt thermal storage systems, is the aim of the European project MSA Through, coordinated by the University of Évora (Portugal) and including ENEA among its partners. 

Italy’s energy transition showed little progress in 2025, as greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption remained broadly unchanged, in line with trends observed across the EU. Prices are still significantly higher than in the pre-crisis period of 2022 (gas +70%, electricity +100%). These are the main findings of ENEA’s Analysis of the Italian Energy System for 2025, which also highlights a slight increase in renewables (+1%), still far below PNIEC targets (-20%). Preliminary data for the first quarter of 2026 show both CO₂ emissions and energy consumption declining by 1%.