The NOEL Laboratory is testing an innovative offshore energy storage system.

New testing campaign at the NOEL Natural Maritime Engineering Laboratory of the Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria: installation of a 50-meter floating subsystem to perfect the launch and installation of future systems.

Sizable Energy, an Italian startup developing long-duration energy storage technology, is launching a new testing campaign at the Natural Ocean Engineering Laboratory (NOEL) of the Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, strengthening its ties with the Calabrian region. This represents a crucial step forward for the young, innovative company, which is returning to the Strait of Messina to validate on a pre-industrial scale a technology designed to make the integration of renewable energy into the electricity grid easier and more cost-effective. At NOEL, a highly innovative maritime engineering project is taking shape: the installation of floating components assembled into a 50-meter-diameter subsystem. This will allow Sizable to refine the launch and installation methodologies for future commercial offshore pumped hydroelectric plants.

"The collaboration between our University and innovative companies,"  stated Rector Giuseppe Zimbalatti, "  demonstrates the central role of the Università Mediterranea in energy transition processes.
The NOEL laboratory confirms its position as a unique research infrastructure, capable of attracting investment and talent, making Calabria a leader in the global challenge of sustainability and the development of cutting-edge offshore technologies."

"Returning to Reggio Calabria with a system of this size brings us closer to the commercial phase ," explains Manuele Aufiero , CEO of Sizable Energy . "The synergy with NOEL demonstrates how Italian academic research can become the driver of global technological solutions for decarbonization."

The collaboration with the Mediterranean University for Sizable Energy is crucial. The NOEL laboratory offers excellent expertise in maritime engineering and experimental activities, in a unique environment: a natural basin where real waves allow marine structures to be tested under authentic, scaled operating conditions.

“We are very happy that Sizable Energy has chosen our laboratory for this new pre-commercial experimental campaign,”  explains Professor Felice Arena, Director of NOEL . “ We have been collaborating with Sizable Energy since 2023. We hope to be able to follow this project through to the commercial phase, which would be wonderful if it could take place right here in Calabria .” 

The technology developed by Sizable Energy works like a giant battery for the electrical system. The principle is the same as that of the pumped-storage hydroelectric plants built in Italy over the last hundred years, mostly in the north, which serve to balance production and consumption and prevent blackouts. This system was already in use before the development of wind and photovoltaic power, and is even more necessary today with the arrival of affordable but non-programmable renewable sources. Unlike traditional pumped-storage plants that exploit the difference in height between mountain reservoirs, Sizable uses the difference in height between the surface and the depths of the sea. Excess energy is used to pump a brine solution (denser than seawater) to a floating tank. When needed, the fluid is allowed to flow to the other tank on the seabed, driving turbines that return electricity to the grid.

The system developed by Sizable is designed to minimize visual impact from the coast and does not use rare or potentially polluting materials. This sustainable and circular approach ensures energy security through improved integration of renewable energy into the electricity system without damaging the landscape and the sea. This new testing phase in the Strait, developed together with NOEL, strengthens Sizable Energy's position among the most promising players in long-duration storage and confirms the value of an innovative and sustainable offshore system that has already garnered international attention and trust.