NE2AP: an advanced model for assessing sustainability and investment in energy infrastructures

Funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) under the PRIN 2022 programme, the NE2AP project, developed by the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Brescia, introduces new tools to assess, in an integrated way, the environmental, economic and strategic impacts of energy infrastructures.

The research project NE2AP – Toward Net-Zero Infrastructure: Advancing the Environmental and Economic Appraisal of Power Plants, funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) within the PRIN 2022 framework, has recently come to a close. Led by the the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano and the University of Brescia, the project aims to improve the assessment of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of power plants in Italy, providing more accurate tools for the planning of sustainable and resilient infrastructures.

At the Politecnico di Milano, the project was coordinated by Prof. Giorgio Locatelli, with contributions from Prof. Enrico Cagno, Prof. Alessandra Neri, and Dr Alessandro Paravano from the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering. At the University of Brescia, the activities were coordinated by Prof. Beatrice Marchi, with contributions from Prof. Lucio Zavanella and Prof. Federico Adrodegari from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

At a time when the international debate focus on climate change and infrastructure development, NE2AP proposes an innovative approach to life-cycle assessment capable of integrating environmental, economic and decision-making dimensions within a unified methodological framework.

The project's main objective is to overcome the limitations of traditional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models, typically used to estimate the environmental impact of infrastructure over its entire life cycle. The research team has therefore developed an “enhanced” LCA model capable of accounting for technological, temporal and financial risks, as well as for the decision-making flexibility required over an infrastructure’s operational lifespan.

Among the most significant innovations of the enhanced LCA model:

• Integration of Discounted Cash Flows (DCF) - to evaluate how environmental risks and benefits evolve over time, considering changing costs and avoiding CO₂ gains.
• Real Options Analysis (ROA) - to model strategic decisions under uncertainty, such as activating risk mitigation measures or predictive maintenance (for example, cleaning solar panels to prevent dust accumulation in areas affected by desertification).

The model was applied to several Italian case studies, including offshore wind farms, solar parks, and nuclear power plants.

The project’s results have been shared with policy makers, industry operators and the wider public through seminars, white papers and outreach videos, providing practical tools for the planning of resilient and sustainable power plants.

Thanks to NE2AP, Italy now has an advanced methodology to evaluate and manage real investment options in the energy sector from an integrated environmental - economic and strategic perspective - a valuable step towards to better address the energy transition challengesand shaping a more sustainable future.

To watch videos related to the project: https://www.youtube.com/@NE2APProject