Holdim Group grows. Eco-fuels are the new bet

The latest operation, the agreement with Isotta Fraschini Motori, has helped give the Holdim Group a strong focus on the development of alternative fuel systems for cars and commercial transport. Rooted in the province of Alessandria, the Holdim cluster has a turnover of 57 million, with about 180 employees. The Ecomotive segment - which employs around 30 people - in which Ecomotive Solutions, Autogas Italia, Bigas, Nuova Selva and Rail operate, has a turnover of 15 million and a growth forecast of 20 million by 2025.

It is precisely Ecomotive Solutions (Holdim Group) that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Isotta Fraschini Motori, a historic Italian company that is part of the Fincantieri Group and a leader in the engine sector, for the development of flexible solutions, capable of operating with a variety of bio-fuels and renewable energy vectors, such as green hydrogen, starting with the use of Isotta Fraschini engine blocks. Ecomotive Solutions was founded in 2009 within the Group whose core business since 1991 has been linked to the development of electronic engine management solutions. Ecomotive Solutions operates in the field of electronic engine control systems for alternative fuels and renewable energies, starting from the Diesel Dual Fuel platform up to the set-ups for BiFuel and 100% biomethane solutions, and ending with experiments on hydrogen. On the one hand, therefore, electronic solutions for engines, and on the other, historical know-how on the set-up of gas vehicles, two competences to which the Group has added a third vocation, more focused on the production of components, following the acquisition, in January of this year, of Rail, which has been designing, producing and marketing injectors for LPG and CNG systems in the automotive sector since 2006. 'This industrial and production expertise that we have added within the Group,' explains Sara Deregibus, board member and daughter of founder Giovanni, 'helps us to accelerate the development of new solutions suitable for low-impact fuels. The idea, then, is that the stalemate in the transition of mobility towards electric solutions may open up the development of new opportunities related to biofuels. "The new entry complements Ecomotive Solutions with Cavagna Group, Autogas Italia and Bigas," adds Giovanni Deregibus, "for the creation of innovative products for eco-sustainable mobility, with particular attention also to developments concerning hydrogen and biofuels, and also allows the Holdim Group to expand its offer in the field of alternative fuels and conversions.

In the hydrogen field, then, GreenForce, a Group company specialising in sustainable transport solutions, presented at Hydrogen Expo its partnership with Green Machines, a global operator active in the creation of innovative and technologically advanced equipment in the field of street and professional cleaning. As a national premiere, GreenForce presented the world's first hydrogen-powered street sweeper, equipped with a 15 kW fuel cell propulsion system, with a collection capacity of one cubic metre, which guarantees an autonomy under normal driving and sweeping conditions of 11 hours.

The Holdim Group in the area has the Monferrato Circuit redevelopment project underway, which envisages the construction of a state-of-the-art agricultural centre with potential functions as a training centre or an exclusive relais immersed in nature. In Holdim's view, in addition to safeguarding the surrounding area by redeveloping it, the site is fundamental for the testing of vehicles powered by alternative fuels.