Genagricola 1851 and BeEnergy: partnership for agri-voltaics

Genagricola 1851, Generali's agri-food holding company, and 3Bee, agri-tech, a leader in the biodiversity sector that develops intelligent monitoring and diagnostic systems for the protection of bees, are launching BeEnergy, a pilot project in the agrivoltaic sector. It is a system that combines agricultural production with the production of renewable energy from photovoltaic panels, hosting them on the same land, based on the installation of a technological apiary and the planting of nectariferous sources. The partnership will start these days with a test in the Genagricola 1851 farms in Lazio and will see the use of 3Bee sensors to monitor wild pollinators. Thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms, the sensors will be listening 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, comprehensively monitoring the pollinators' state of well-being.

Igor Boccardo, Managing Director of Genagricola 185, Le Tenute del Leone Alato and Cattolica Agricola, said: "Genagricola 1851, with 14,000 hectares of land and over 170 years of history, is a reality that stands out for its vocation to safeguard biodiversity, a goal that it pursues with determination, also availing itself of the use of cutting-edge technologies. Within the estates we keep hundreds of hives from third-party beekeepers, certifying the quality of the environment and the agriculture we practise there, and we are at the forefront of protecting the species so important to our planet. We are delighted to collaborate with 3Bee and give life to the Beenergy project with which we intend to generate an important environmental and social impact, as a result of our commitment to experimenting with cutting-edge technologies".

Niccolò Calandri, CEO and Co-Founder of 3Bee said: 'We believe that bees are the perfect bio-maker to monitor biodiversity in an area. The use of technology to detect the health status of bees and the land is of fundamental value to the sector, as demonstrated by the 3,000 beekeepers using 3Bee technology in Italy and abroad. All pollinators, including honey bees, are the key link in the chain of life. It is of the utmost importance today to guarantee them protected locations and the presence of nectariferous species for the generation of pasture. These are the necessary steps to generate a real impact on the biodiversity of the territory.

During the spring of next year, a 25-hectare area is to be planted with plants with high nectar capacity and resistant to adverse weather conditions, which will become a source of nectar for the hives (basic food for colony development), promote biodiversity and improve the aesthetic appearance of the plant. Each hectare planted in this way will provide the bees with more than 300 kg of nectar and absorb 2 tonnes of Co2. Also in the spring, 35 hives will be installed on nectar pasture land, which will be monitored thanks to 3Bee's proprietary Hive-Tech technology to constantly monitor the health of the hive, diagnose any pathologies in advance and support beekeepers in their daily work.

With the BeEnergy project, developed thanks to the technology of 3Bee, Genagricola 1851 will protect more than 10 million pollinators that will visit around 10 billion flowers, guaranteeing an annual production of more than 700 kg of sustainable, quality honey. To verify the real impact of BeEnergy on the territory concerned, there will be satellite maps and sensors that, step by step, will monitor the biodiversity index before, during and after the start of the project.