Paving the way towards zero-loss energy transmission at ESSRI 2026

ESSRI, Energy for Sustainable Science at Research Infrastructures, is the international workshop dedicated to the technical and strategic challenges of making research infrastructures more energy-sustainable. This year's edition was hosted by the University of Salerno.

The final day welcomed Mark Thomson, Director-General of CERN, Antonio Zoccoli, President of INFN, and Lucio Rossi, conference chair for INFN. At the end of the proceedings, participants moved to the Fisciano Campus where, guided by Rector Virgilio D'Antonio and the University of Salerno research team, they visited IRIS – Innovative Research Infrastructure on Applied Superconductivity.

IRIS is a strategic national project led by INFN and funded by the Ministry of University and Research under the PNRR. It is currently being completed in collaboration with ASG Superconductors and is dedicated to developing and testing high-power superconducting magnets and lines, as well as solutions for energy efficiency and sustainability.

The delegation also saw the facility for testing 1 GW power superconducting lines, a major milestone that we are building together with INFN. Very soon it will bring into operation the most powerful lossless superconducting cable in Europe.

This innovation paves the way for superconducting applications in power grids: the infrastructure we increasingly need to support growing energy demand while staying aligned with the Green Deal.