PRESS RELEASE
Comunicato n. 10 del 04/03/2026 ( download download )
1. The new edition of Italian Exhibition Group’s energy transition event inaugurated by the Minister for the Environment and Energy Security
2. Speakers at the opening ceremony included Maurizio Renzo Ermeti, President of IEG, Anna Montini, Rimini Municipal Councillor for Ecological Transition, Maurizio Forte, Central Director for Export Sectors at the Italian Trade Agency, Vinicio Mosé Vigilante, CEO of GSE, and Irene Priolo, Emilia-Romagna Regional Councillor for the Environment, Territorial Planning, Mobility, Transport and Infrastructure
3. In conjunction, the new edition of DPE – International Electricity Expo. Presentation of SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference, organised by IEG in Vicenza.
Rimini, 4th March 2026 – Italy at the centre of the new energy landscape. KEY – The Energy Transition Expo, IEG’s (Italian Exhibition Group) event of reference in Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean basin on energy transition, kicked off this morning. Ongoing until Friday 6th March, the show will see Rimini Expo Centre hosting over 125,000 square metres of exhibition space in 24 halls with more than 1,000 exhibiting brands, of which about 30% from abroad. More than 500 hosted buyers and delegations from 50 countries are expected to attend thanks to the support of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).
KEY 2026 was inaugurated today with an Opening Ceremony attended by the Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. Speakers included Maurizio Renzo Ermeti, President of IEG, Anna Montini, Rimini Municipal Councillor for Ecological Transition, Maurizio Forte, Central Director for Export Sectors at the Italian Trade Agency, Vinicio Mosé Vigilante, CEO of GSE, and Irene Priolo, Emilia-Romagna Regional Councillor for the Environment, Territorial Planning, Mobility, Transport and Infrastructure.
“Italy,” explained Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, “believes in renewables and technological neutrality as part of a concrete, non-ideological sustainable development strategy. International events confirm the importance of investing in energy security while releasing the great potential of renewables: a vision that has also taken shape through the recent Energy Decree. We cannot exclude any vector from our energy mix. This also means focusing, as we have chosen to do through the draft enabling law brought before Parliament, on new, clean, and sustainable nuclear power. The business world at KEY,” Pichetto concluded, “is already interpreting an advanced vision of environment that chooses innovation and quality.”
The opening day at KEY – The Energy Transition Expo provided an opportunity to present IEG – Italian Exhibition Group’s SSEC – Storage & Solar Expo Conference, the new B2B event entirely dedicated to solar energy and energy storage systems, to the international energy community.
Scheduled to take place on 22nd and 23rd September 2026 at Vicenza Expo Centre, SSEC will be a vertical and highly specialised event, complementary to KEY, whose aim is to offer the market a compact format, centred on direct business and qualified networking between manufacturers, distributors, EPC contractors, designers, investors and large energy users.
With an exclusive focus on photovoltaics, storage and integrated energy management solutions, SSEC aspires to become the new hub of reference for the supply chain, strengthening IEG's position in the energy transition trade show landscape and ensuring continuity of relations with the market throughout the year.
NOT-TO-BE-MISSED AT THE SHOW
Technology, innovation and research converge in Rimini. From coloured solar panels to sodium-ion batteries, from innovative fluidised sand thermal energy storage systems to those designed for residential use, and on to agrivoltaics and high-power electric charging solutions, the European and global excellence on display at the show demonstrates the dynamism of a market that, even in the current complex scenario, continues to support investment in the energy transition.
In the efficiency halls, a must-see is the new KEY HOME— Healthy, Optimized, Measured, Efficient project, which has reproduced a 100% smart, efficient and sustainable building.
Unmissable events on tomorrow’s agenda include:
· The presentation of the Report on the state of energy sustainability in the construction supply chain, organised by KEY’s Technical Scientific Committee and FEDERCOSTRUZIONI
· “EPC and Finance: the new phase of renewables”, organised by KEY’s Technical Scientific Committee and Elemens
· “Energy and Innovation: MASE's International Cooperation for Energy Transition”, organised by the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), and UNEP (UN Environment Programme)
· “The centrality of Energy Efficiency for competitiveness, energy security and decarbonisation”, organised by AGICI
· “Women in the energy sector: numbers, roles and work dynamics”, organised by Italia Solare and KEY
· Good news, bad news, fake news: renewables between narrative and reality, organised by Italy4Climate
· The charging network for electric cars: where are we in Italy and Europe organised by GSE and Motus-E
· Solar PV/Wind and Battery Storage Systems: the key to energy self-sufficiency, Driving Africa’s Energy Transition, organised by Res4Africa
· Energy and transport: IEA scenarios between technological innovation and supply security, organised by IEA-International Energy Agency, Motus-E and KEY
The complete programme of KEY 2026 events is available at the following link: www.key-expo.com/eventi
DPE – INTERNATIONAL ELECTRICITY EXPO
In conjunction with KEY, the new edition of the DPE – International Electricity Expo has also started. This specific event on the electricity generation, transmission, distribution, safety and automation ecosystem, is organised by Italian Exhibition Group in collaboration with the Distributed Generation Association – Motors, Components, Generating Sets, a confederate of ANIMA Confindustria, and Federazione ANIE – which represents companies operating in the electrical engineering and electronics supply chains and industrial general contractors within the Confindustria system.
ABOUT KEY 2026
Event: International trade show; Organisation: Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A.; Frequency: annual; Edition: 4th; Dates: 4-6 March 2026; mail keyenergy@iegexpo.it; Website: http://www.key-expo.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keyexpo/; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/key_expo/; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keyenergy/
PRESS CONTACT KEY - ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP
head of media & corporate communication: Elisabetta Vitali; press office manager: Pier Francesco Bellini, Marco Forcellini ; international press office coordinator: Silvia Giorgi; press office coordinator: Luca Paganin; press office specialists: Nicoletta Evangelisti, Mirko Malgieri; media@iegexpo.it
MEDIA AGENCY: Smartitaly Communications
Sara Scatena, s.scatena@smartitaly.it, mob. +39 338 7836985; Francesca Pericolo, f.pericolo@smartitaly.it, mob. +39 327 986 1860