A2A: 50 Years of District Heating

This year A2A celebrates 50 years since the establishment of the first district heating plant in Brescia.


A2A decided to celebrate this important milestone by organizing, together with Tondo, a Hackathon open to high schools and technical institutes in Brescia, to impart knowledge about the key elements involved in district heating and at the same time to be inspired by the fresh and innovative ideas of the students.


The Hackathon was held on October 21st and 22nd and took place at A2A’s headquarters in Via Lamarmora. The event was attended by students from Liceo Gambara, Istituto Salesiano Don Bosco and Istituto Itis Castelli. Participants were numerous and eager to try. At the end of the second day, three winning groups, one for each proposed challenge, were declared and awarded a prize.


The event began on the morning of Friday, on October 21st, with an opening by Michele Rota, District Heating Development Manager for A2A Calore e Servizi, and Vincenzo Oliviero Innovation Manager of A2A, who welcomed the students by briefly introducing the three challenges.


The first challenge was introduced and narrated by Daniele Pasinelli, Strategic Projects Contact Person in A2A Calore e Servizi, and Luisa Zacchi, Asset Management Coordination in A2A Calore e Servizi.


District heating offers many advantages: the use of local heat sources, high security of supply, reduced space requirements, and reduced maintenance expenses. District heating also turns out to be among the most effective tools for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and its uptake is growing steadily, especially in Europe. Yet, it can still be done better by harnessing renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, etc.) and\or integrating heat from industrial recovery into heating networks and reducing fossil fuel consumption. So, the challenge was to find new opportunities for integrating heat sources with district heating networks.


The winning group of the first challenge was Stem in the water, from the Itis Castelli Institute. The problem they tried to answer was related to the dissipation of heat passing through pipes. The proposed solution was to install a backbone district heating network.


The second challenge was introduced by Antonella Molinari, Head of New Business Line Development at A2A Calore and Services. 


To maximize the potential of district heating, thermal power plants often use a combined system that also produces electricity. Thanks to advanced technologies, in fact, the power plant can produce thermoelectric energy and at the same time recover the waste heat that is released during this process, for example, that of the hot water or steam that feeds the turbines, or that of the exhaust fumes produced by combustion. The same mechanism occurs for the recovery of flue gas from waste treatment. Building on this example of energy efficiency, the students were set the challenge of looking for other initiatives that could be implemented in school buildings to minimize energy waste and optimize the use of resources.


The winning group in this challenge was The Green must go on, from the Itis Castelli Institute. The students identified some of the issues related to their school building. They then proposed some very innovative solutions, including the construction of an ebony wood thermal coat to prevent heat loss and the installation of photovoltaic glass to store electricity for lighting and powering computers and other technologies.


The third and final challenge, was presented by Cinzia Arciani, District Heating and Heat Management Communication Contact in A2A Calore e Servizi, and Eugenio Mazza, Digital Business Transformation in A2A.


This last challenge, more focused on communication, aimed to make all the benefits derived from district heating understood by the city community so that all citizens would be aware of the environmental, economic, and safety benefits of this mode of heat and energy supply. Therefore, the challenge given was to find ways to better educate and inform citizens by developing an effective communication campaign accessible to everybody.


The winning group of the challenge was Radio Speakers from Gambara High School. The students proposed a communication plan that involved a collaboration between high school students, A2A, and local radio stations to properly inform all citizens.


The projects presented were all extremely valuable and interesting. During the two days event, a mentoring activity was carried out by the Tondo team that allowed students to organize their ideas to the best of their ability, by also introducing the Design Thinking approach. The A2A mentors, on the other hand, followed the participants by providing valuable technical suggestions to reach the pitch phase properly prepared.


Thanks also to the A2A Innovation team, Sara Bettanin, Bianca Uberti Foppa, Luca Volterrani, and Patrick Ougre who supported the Tondo team in organizing the event.


The goal of the Hackathon was to create a moment of exchange, between those who are in their learning years and those, who can start sharing their years of experience and innovation at the service of knowledge for personal and professional growth, to define new, creative, and increasingly sustainable visions for everyone’s future.


We hope to develop more and more initiatives like this in the future, together with realities that are willing to experiment and get involved.

Francesco Castellano

Francesco Castellano holds a Master degree in Business Administration, and he has gathered almost twenty years of experience in research, finance, consulting, and business management. During this time, he was engaged in different types of projects as a consultant at Bain & Company, launched Uber operations in Turin, and worked in the FP&A department at General Electric.Lately, he founded To... Read more

Francesco Castellano holds a Master degree in Business Administration, and he has gathered almost twenty years of experience in research, finance, consulting, and business management. During this time, he was engaged in different types of projects as a consultant at Bain & Company, launched Uber operations in Turin, and worked in the FP&A department at General Electric.

Lately, he founded Tondo, a cluster of organizations focusing on spreading Circular Economy approaches and concepts, and supporting companies in the transition to a clean and circular future. Francesco is also the ideator and coordinator of the Re-think Circular Economy Forum, a format of events organized in many different locations in Italy showcasing the most relevant Circular Economy solutions.

Francesco has been a guest speaker at different universities and events, like Federico II University, Bocconi University, LIUC - Cattaneo University, Pavia University, Padua University, Catholic University, IPE Business School, 24ORE Business School, Campus Party, Torino Stratosferica, Visionary Days.

Francesco is passionate about Circular Economy, Cleantech Innovations, Venture Building and Entrepreneurship.

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