Today the president of the Port System Authority of the Eastern Ligurian Sea, Bruno Pisano, signed the decree with which the initiates the project financing procedure for the Construction of the port's first hydrogen production plant of La Spezia. The decree contains the positive assessment of the proposal put forward by the company Bluenergy of Genoa, which has adhered to the expression of interest concerning the design, construction and management of the plant through a project financing contract. The company's proposal concerns an energy infrastructure for the production and distribution of renewable hydrogen in the port of La Spezia, operating in the sites of La Spezia and Marina di Carrara.

The main element of the project is the possibility of to carry out "mobile" refueling to vehicles such as locomotives and boats, in line with, inter alia, the framework signed in March 2024 between the Port System Authority and Mercitalia for the use of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles dedicated to railway manoeuvres.

The plant will have a total power of 56 kW. The storage of the hydrogen produced by the plant will take place in cylinders installed on a trailer equipped with a regulator and a tractor for transporting hydrogen to refuelling points. The total investment of 2.2 million euros will be 40% covered with PNRR funds from the Green Ports call, 28% with private capital and the remaining 32% with own funds of the Port Authority.

The decree will initiate the publication of a notice aimed at other economic operators who may be interested, with the invitation to the formulation of proposals concerning the same intervention. At the end of the assigned term of 60 days, the entity identify the best proposal among all those presented, including the one put forward by Bluenergy, which will be based on of a tender for the construction of the work and the subsequent management.

"This project, in addition to representing a step forward in the energy transition and sustainability path of the ports - Pisano underlined - also has highly innovative. The plant will guarantee supplies to a large fleet of vehicles: cars, trucks, rail and naval vehicles".