A 'just transition'. This is the core of the 2023 edition of OMC Med Energy Conference, the event dedicated to energy that will be held in Ravenna from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 October and that will bring together energy sector operators, stakeholders, and Italian and international institutions for discussions and debates. A three-day event that confirms, also for this edition, OMC Med Energy Conference as a space and opportunity for dialogue on the issues of energy transition, decarbonisation strategies, and energy security, transforming Ravenna into the main hub for debate on energy in the Mediterranean, a meeting point between the North and South of the world. Where to build concrete solutions and create new business models that focus on energy transition and ensure energy security, competitiveness, and sustainability.
Among the Italian and European institutional presences: Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Minister for the Environment and Energy Security); Antonio Tajani (Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Kadri Simson (European Commissioner for Energy), Vannia Gava (Deputy Minister for the Environment and Energy Security), Galeazzo Bignami (Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport). Together with the Mediterranean ministers: Tarek El Molla (Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt), Mohamed Arkab (Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria), George Papanastasiou
(Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry of Cyprus), Walid Fayad (Minister of Energy and Water of Lebanon).
Among the companies present: Claudio Descalzi (CEO Eni), Rachid Hachichi (CEO Sonatrach), Giuseppe Ricci (COO Energy Evolution, Eni), Giulia Costagli (Head of Technology Governance, Ferrovie dello Stato), Stefano Ballista (CEO, Eni Sustainable Mobility), Filippo Abbà (COO Technology and Innovation, Saipem), Bernardo Attolico (Chief Business Officer, SACE).
To anticipate the themes of the three-day event the pre-opening session was dedicated to the city of Ravenna, on 23 October at the Alighieri Theatre in the presence of the President of the Emilia Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini and the mayor Michele de Pascale together with the presidents Guido Brusco (Confindustria Energia) and Stefano Maione (Assorisorse) and the CEO of Snam Stefano Venier.
"I am delighted to open this new edition of OMC Med Energy and to meet again in Ravenna this autumn, a city that has become, to all intents and purposes, an established hub of the international energy debate not only for us, but for the entire sector involved. And now in its 30th anniversary year, OMC Med Energy
lends itself to becoming a reference point for the Mediterranean countries, which today represents the real bridge between the North and the South of the world," says Monica Spada, President of OMC Med Energy. "With this year's edition, we want to be more and more a real laboratory for the creation of new and innovative companies that aim at energy transition, guaranteeing energy security, competitiveness and sustainability. With these premises, and with the ambition that characterises the history of OMC Med Energy, we are proud to make an appointment in Ravenna: an opportunity to bring the city and its industrial fabric back to the centre of international dialogue."
"OMC and Assorisorse have a historical link, our association being a founding member of the event, whose first edition dates back to 1993, together with the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce and the Ravenna Offshore Contractors Association. In these 30 years of activity, OMC has been fundamental for the entire energy supply chain represented by Assorisorse because it has given important international visibility to Italian companies that have been able to establish themselves in the world thanks to their skills, executive capabilities, and the excellent quality of their products and services," says Stefano Maione, President of Assorisorse. "OMC has also been able to create a place for Italian companies where they can compare themselves with the excellence of the sector, promote research and development of new technologies, and look to the future with a renewed commitment to all the issues of energy transition. This transition must be pursued with passion, courage and determination because it is certainly an opportunity for growth for our country and a great chance to transform our companies'.
"In organising the 2023 edition of OMC Med Energy, we faced major logistical difficulties in the spring due to the flooding in May, which made it necessary to postpone it from spring to 24 October 2023. As always, the conference looks ahead, addressing the issues of energy sustainability and the supply mix needed to achieve the 2023 and 2050 decarbonisation targets. 'Operationally, 2023 for companies in the sector was a year of turning point and change for several reasons,' says Ravenna Offshore Contractors Association (ROCA) President Renzo Righini. "Locally, the start of work on the installation of the regasifier, with all the activities it entails, is giving and will also give important work opportunities to companies in the area in the future. More generally, beyond the typically local orders, there has been a considerable revival of work related to traditional energies around the world. The last two, three years have been complicated for our companies, but in the future they will certainly have very positive repercussions both for the epoch-making development that the port of Ravenna and the logistics areas will have thanks to the work of the Hub, and for the role of the Mediterranean as a geopolitically strategic and decisive area in terms of energy supplies".
"Ravenna and Ferrara share the presence of a chemical-energy industrial hub of national importance on which a project is underway to develop decarbonisation activities that aim to capture over one million tonnes of CO2 per year," says Giorgio Guberti, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Ferrara and Ravenna. "Off the coast of Ravenna, the first offshore wind farm, a floating photovoltaic plant, and a regasifier will also be installed, a virtuous path that nominates us as a territory of transition, exploiting natural and clean resources and the great expertise of companies operating in this sector. This is a natural point of arrival for an area like Ravenna, which over the years has established itself as the energy capital of an entire geographical area centred on the Mediterranean. This has also happened thanks to the role and commitment of the Chamber of Commerce, which, ever since the founding of the OMC, as a privileged observer of local and international economic dynamics, has been able to intercept new development drivers aimed increasingly at sustainability with farsightedness".
The OMC Med Energy 2023 conference will range from the new energy context to the contingent emergencies represented by the need to combine energy production and the challenge of climate change.
Through a global outlook and a focus on Europe and the Mediterranean, it will analyse the geopolitical effects of the current crisis, the European need for an independent energy policy, the levers of the green and digital transition, and the structural interventions and activities on the economic, political and social level needed to rapidly mitigate and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.In addition, for the first time, the hard-to-abate will be given a voice and, in a dedicated panel, sustainable mobility will also be discussed.
Moreover, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, OMC Med Energy - in addition to renewing itself with a new visual identity - will present the book "Energy For Future 1993-2023" with the voices of the protagonists of past and current editions, together with a series of photographs that tell the story of the path taken so far and the new objectives and challenges of the sector.
Finally, OMC Med Energy Conference confirms its commitment to a future tailored to the younger generations with the Innovation Room, created with the support of Accenture, a partner in the initiative.
A dedicated area within the exhibition spaces where high school students,
Universities, research centres, start-ups and experts will be able to exchange ideas, transform them into projects and devise solutions for the energy challenges of the future.