E.ON supplies Milan district with fully sustainable energy

European utility providers E.ON will install sustainable energy supplies for a new urban district on the former Expo site in Milan in partnership with the international real estate group Lendlease, the company said on Friday.

The energy required for the project will be fully generated from renewable sources such as green electricity, channel water, well water and the ambient air, and all used energy will be recycled intelligently and efficiently.

The joint project will lay the foundation for supplying 565,000 square metres of the site called "MIND" with 41 Gigawatt hour per year of cooling and 29 Gigawatt hours per year of heating in one grid, E.ON said in a statement.

The project will make the Milan district one of the largest neighbourhoods in Europe to be supplied with sustainable energy.

“The aim of MIND is to create a unique place for scientific, economic, social and cultural innovation. To this end, a mixed use of the site is planned with businesses, residential, commercial and recreational areas as well as various service providers,” E.ON said.

The joint venture will invest a mid-double-digit million euro amount in the “Milano District Innovation” project, it said.

“Cities and industrial agglomerations cause the largest share of CO2 emissions in Europe and thus occupy a key position on the way to an emission-free energy landscape of the future. Innovative solutions like "MIND" are needed to supply entire metropolises with sustainable energy,” Patrick Lammers, COO at E.ON, said in a statement.