HERA SPA

Their core work

HERA Group (Holding Energia Risorse Ambiente) is one of Italy's largest multi-utility operators, managing gas and electricity distribution, the full water cycle (supply, purification, and wastewater), district heating networks, and waste collection across northeastern Italy, serving millions of customers. In H2020, they engaged as an industrial partner bringing real operational infrastructure to research projects — connecting laboratory-scale innovations to actual district heating grids and wastewater treatment plants running at commercial scale. Their role in EU projects is that of an end-user and validation host: they provide the operational environment where technologies can be tested against real-world conditions, real data, and real regulatory constraints. This makes them particularly valuable to consortia that need a credible path from research to large-scale deployment.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2018), HERA's focus was entirely on energy infrastructure — specifically district heating network efficiency, a direct operational concern for a utility managing large heat distribution systems across northeastern Italy. By 2019, they expanded into water technology research through NOWELTIES, covering advanced oxidation processes, organic micropollutant removal, nanomaterials, and water reuse — all areas where EU water framework regulations are creating growing compliance pressure on utilities. The shift shows a company using EU research partnerships to stay ahead of tightening environmental requirements in both its energy and water divisions.

HERA is expanding its R&D engagement toward water quality and environmental compliance technology, driven by EU micropollutant regulations — making them an increasingly relevant industrial partner for projects targeting water reuse, advanced treatment, or circular water economy applications.

How they like to work

HERA consistently joins projects as a participant or third-party partner rather than leading consortia, which is typical for large utilities that engage with academic and technology partners as industrial hosts and end-users. With 26 unique partners across 11 countries from just 2 projects, they are embedded in large, internationally diverse consortia — suggesting they are sought after specifically for the operational scale and real infrastructure sites they provide. Working with them means access to commercial-scale deployment environments and industrial data, but expect them to be an enabling partner rather than the scientific or strategic driver of a project.

Despite only 2 H2020 projects, HERA has built connections with 26 unique partners across 11 countries, indicating they join large, internationally diverse consortia. Their network spans both applied energy research and academic water science communities, giving them cross-domain reach unusual for a utility company.

What sets them apart

HERA is rare among EU research participants: a large commercially operating utility with actual district heating grids and wastewater treatment plants serving real customers at scale, which means any technology developed with their involvement has a concrete and credible deployment pathway. Most research partners can only simulate industrial conditions; HERA provides the real operational environment — treatment plants under regulatory scrutiny, networks carrying live heat loads, and the operational data that only years of running infrastructure generates. For consortia working on energy network optimization or water treatment innovations that need industrial validation, HERA offers something no university lab or research institute can replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Upgrade DH
  HERA's only directly funded H2020 project, addressing district heating network performance — a strategically important topic for decarbonizing European cities and directly tied to HERA's own infrastructure management challenges.
• NOWELTIES
  An MSCA Innovative Training Network where HERA served as an industrial partner hosting PhD-level research on next-generation water treatment technologies, bridging doctoral science with operational wastewater infrastructure.