RINA CONSULTING SPA

Their core work

RINA Consulting (formerly D'Appolonia) is a large Italian engineering and consulting firm within the RINA Group, specializing in energy systems, industrial process optimization, and infrastructure resilience. They provide technical advisory services, feasibility studies, and engineering solutions across energy efficiency, waste heat recovery, decarbonisation, and transport infrastructure. In EU projects, they typically contribute lifecycle analysis, techno-economic assessment, business model development, and systems integration — bridging the gap between research results and industrial deployment. Their 142 H2020 projects and EUR 45M in EC funding reflect a role as one of Italy's most active private-sector R&D participants.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2014–2017), RINA Consulting focused heavily on building construction materials, retrofitting existing buildings, nanocomposites, and process control with in-situ sensors — essentially improving physical infrastructure and manufacturing processes. By 2018–2021, their focus shifted decisively toward energy system flexibility, decarbonisation, waste heat recovery, electrochemistry, and digital tools like blockchain and big data for energy management. This evolution tracks the broader EU policy shift from energy-efficient buildings toward sector coupling, grid flexibility, and deep decarbonisation of industry.

RINA Consulting is moving from physical infrastructure improvement toward digital energy management, electrochemistry, and industrial decarbonisation — expect them to pursue Horizon Europe calls on clean energy transition and circular industry.

How they like to work

RINA Consulting overwhelmingly operates as a consortium partner (112 of 142 projects), joining large multi-partner teams rather than leading them. Their 18 coordinator roles show they can lead when the topic fits their core engineering expertise (e.g., ECO-Binder in construction materials). With 1,865 unique consortium partners across 49 countries, they are a genuine network hub — a reliable, well-connected partner that brings technical depth and broad European relationships to any consortium.

With 1,865 unique consortium partners across 49 countries, RINA Consulting has one of the densest collaboration networks among Italian private companies in H2020. Their partnerships span nearly all of Europe with strong ties to Mediterranean and Western European research institutions and industry.

What sets them apart

RINA Consulting occupies a rare position as a large private engineering firm that participates at research-project scale — most companies this size either lead fewer projects or stick to purely commercial work. Their breadth across energy, transport, environment, and manufacturing means they can provide cross-domain systems integration that specialist labs or SMEs cannot. For consortium builders, they offer a combination of engineering credibility, business model expertise, and a massive partner network that is hard to replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ECO-Binder
  One of their coordinator-led projects (EUR 438K), developing low-CO2 insulating concrete — demonstrates their ability to lead materials innovation.
• IN2RAIL
  Largest single EC contribution at nearly EUR 700K, flagship Shift2Rail project on intelligent rail infrastructure.
• FISSAC
  EUR 469K in a long-running (2015–2020) industrial symbiosis project bridging construction, resource recovery, and circular economy across sectors.