Innovation Day Energy 2026: Lazio focuses on start-ups and energy transition

The Innovation Day Energia 2026 was held on 7 May in Rome, at the INAIL Antonio Maglio Auditorium, the event promoted by the Lazio Region, through Lazio Innova and the Active Spaces Network, dedicated to promoting innovation in the cleantech sector and strengthening the regional ecosystem of energy transition. It was a day of high-strategic value comparison involving institutions, large industrial groups, start-ups and innovative SMEs (selected by public notice), investors and research centres, with the aim of pooling skills and technologies and creating new market opportunities through a packed calendar of meetings between industrial groups and start-ups.

The Innovation Day Energia 2026 allowed 22 selected start-ups/small and medium-sized enterprises to present themselves with a promotional Pich and, by booking themselves on a special online platform, to hold meetings with the Industrial Groups present, including Eni, Enel, Edison, Maire, Iren and Snam. The selected start-ups/sMEs cover all sectors of the energy chain: production, storage, grid management, digital energy. According to the most recent sector data, Lazio is confirmed as one of the tracking regions for new photovoltaic capacity in Italia, having led the national ranking for the two-year period 2024-2025 with over 1,100 MW of new installed capacity. To support this growth, the Region has activated the b>bando "Energia Solare per le Imprese 2026" (Solar Energy for Businesses 2026), with 20 million euro in non-repayable grants, and has included energy transition among the target sectors of the recent subsidised finance measures, which have provided 275 million.

A central role has also been attributed to the Renewable Energy Communities, for which the Region has allocated EUR 14 million, with the aim of making citizens and businesses protagonists in the production and sharing of energy, reducing costs and strengthening territorial cohesion. The energy transition also represents a strategic employment lever: estimates indicate significant employment potential by 2030 in the renewable energy, energy efficiency and cleantech sectors.

To open the proceedings, the institutional focus "Energy at the heart of Lazio" with Roberta Angelilli, Vice-President and Councillor for Economic Development, Trade, Crafts, Industry and Internationalisation of the Lazio Region; Vinicio Mosè Vigilante, CEO of GSE - Gestore dei Servizi Energetici; Giorgio Boneschi, General Manager of Elettricità Futura and Livio De Santoli, member of the Board of ARERA - Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment.

"The energy transition is a decisive lever for the economic and social development of Lazio. In a complex international phase, marked by instability and strong tensions on the energy markets, strengthening the capacity of territories to produce innovation, autonomy and competitiveness becomes a strategic priority. We are building a model that integrates industry, innovation and territory, capable of attracting investment, creating skilled employment and structurally strengthening the competitiveness of the regional production system," said Vice-President Roberta Angelilli.