Italian Venue to Convert to Solar Energy
By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 12/29/2005
The Italian city of Rimini will be spared exposure to 40 tons of carbon dioxide per year, thanks to a photovoltaic system currently being installed at Rimini Fiera.
Venue officials last month began assembling the 4,306 square foot panel system that converts sunlight to electricity.
Rimini Fiera Chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni said the decision to incorporate the •320,000 ($380,000) system is "in line with our project and strategy policy," which includes an ongoing commitment to environmentally friendly structural solutions for the facility "and, consequently, for our town."
Rimini Fiera organizes more than 80 percent of the center's events, several of which concern the environment.
"This policy can also be clearly seen as far as our expos are concerned — from ECOMONDO, a leading event on environmental sustainability, to the recent RI3, which focuses on the problems of disposal of information technology waste, and SINERGY, which also addresses issues connected with energy saving," Cagnoni added.
The photovoltaic system at Rimini Fiera is designed to produce about 60,000 kilowatts per hour during its anticipated 30-year lifespan.
The venue's technical manager, Nazario Pedini, said that even if the energy produced is a small percentage of the center's overall energy requirements, "it's a first decisive step that can open the road to future work aimed at lowering our energy needs, thanks to in-house generation from renewable sources."
During the summer, work began on the •30 million ($35.6 million) second stage of the Rimini Fiera expansion. The project, slated for completion next July, will add 200,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space to the current 1.6 million sq. ft. The expansion is part of a project that includes the new Rimini Palacongressi Conference Center, set to open in March 2008.
Additionally, the SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, began generating its own electricity when its four electric turbine generators came online Nov. 11.
The clean-burning, highly efficient, natural gas turbines will allow the SeaGate to generate about 40 percent of its electrical needs, saving approximately $125,000 annually through cost avoidance.
