Overview of the year

Why Repower is investigating natural dye plants

September

At the Castelguglielmo agricultural photovoltaic park in the Veneto region, a test field is being created in which energy production and agriculture complement each other. Here Repower is investigating how plants for making dyes can be integrated into the farm’s business. This brings an ancient agricultural technique into a modern environment, linking tradition with research and technological development.

The focus is on two plants – woad and persicaria – from which indigo is extracted. This dye is comparable to synthetic alternatives in terms of its physical and chemical properties, but offers ecological advantages and a wide range of potential applications.

The project comprises several steps: growing the plants under different light and temperature conditions, harvesting and extracting the pigment, and textile applications in which fabrics are dipped in indigo and then tested.

The results were presented in September 2025 in Milan at the Università NABA, Nuova Accademia delle Belle Arti. Researchers, agronomists, companies and representatives of the textile industry gained an insight into the processes at the event, which ran under the banner of “Tinto di Blu: Agrivoltaico ed erbe tintorie, in viaggio tra energia, moda e innovazione”, and were able to experience the dyed fabrics first-hand.

Boost to agriculture and the textile industry

Repower’s goal with this project is to provide impetus for Italian agriculture and the textile industry. It involves collaboration between agronomists, researchers, technicians, textile design students and craftspeople. The Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the State University of Milan, NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, and Officina del Colore Naturale are all involved.

Thanks to this approach, Repower is helping strengthen local resources, open up new applications and show how energy generation and agricultural production can be meaningfully combined.