A hub for green hydrogen in the port area of Porto Marghera which can be replicated in other large, highly energy-intensive regional industrial districts. It is the heart of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea and the Sapio Group with Hydrogen Park. The energy transition towards industrial decarbonisation and zero-emission transport is more strategic than ever and the enhancement of ports as potential clusters that combine energy, industry and the circular economy will allow their great potential to emerge.
This will make it possible transform the port ecosystem into a new clean energy hub for integrated electrical systems, for hydrogen and other low-carbon energy carriers. The collaboration has started on two specific projects: Ports8, with the aim of creating a hydrogen production center and road refueling station in the port area of Porto Marghera, a candidate last January for the tender of the European program “Horizon 2020 Green Ports”; Sunshinh3, candidate to enter among those of prevailing interest within the European strategy on hydrogen, the so-called ‘Ipcei’, being studied among the member states of the EU. It intends to develop an innovative green ammonia distribution system from which to derive the supply of green hydrogen, eliminating carbon dioxide emissions.
The agreement aims at the creation of a Hydrogen Valley that is a hydrogen district of a vast metropolitan area and is in line with the Manifesto for sustainability drawn up by Confindustria Venezia to combine economic development with social and environmental protection. The agreement is also coordinated with the strategy promoted by the Veneto Region through the project “Venice, the world capital of sustainability”And sees in the Porto Marghera area the ideal site for the realization of both projects by virtue of efficient maritime connections, large port spaces and connections with the national and European road, rail and energy networks.
With the signing of the memorandum Sapio, a hydrogen producer for almost 100 years with consolidated experience along the entire value chain and operating in complete safety through a capillary network throughout the territory, will make available its skills in the field of production, transport, distribution and final applications to develop solutions that allow hydrogen to position itself as a sustainable and safe energy carrier.
“The future of our country begins with what we can achieve today – he declares Alberto Dossi, president of the Sapio Group – Important collaborations like this one with Hydrogen Park and the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea are a clear example of the commitment we intend to make available to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Sapio will contribute its experience and expertise in the production of hydrogen, in the management of production plants, in the distribution through hydrogen pipelines and tank trucks, in the installation and management of refueling stations, as well as in the import of green hydrogen of ammonia “.
Thanks to the memorandum of understanding, adds the president of Hydrogen Park Andrea Bos, “Porto Marghera continues its path towards the green transition, which sees Hydrogen Park at the forefront for the development of projects useful for the production and distribution of green hydrogen as an energy vector. This is the future of our territories, in line with the European strategy that will be incorporated in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan The energy transition represents a huge opportunity for growth in industrial activity and employment. In this context, Hydrogen Park makes itself available to facilitate the access of companies of our territories to the funds of the Recovery Fund and of the European projects already in place “.
Per Cinzia Zincone, Extraordinary Commissioner AdSP Mas, “The ports of the future will increasingly be incubators of technological innovation and not just places for loading and unloading goods. And the project started today is proof of this. Porto Marghera confirms itself in this sense as the reference hub for guaranteeing the energy transition of the logistic chain, the productive and industrial fabric and port operations. A path started in 2014 with the conversion to a biorefinery operated by Eni, confirmed by the forthcoming operation of the Venice Lng project for the storage and use of low environmental impact fuel and which today is heading towards a zero-emission future.
The Port System Authority, continues Zincone, “will provide, also by virtue of the experience gained in resorting to European funding, full cooperation not only with Sapio but also with the representatives of the Venice production and industrial fabric of the Hydrogen Park Consortium to achieve this result. A result that demonstrates, once again, how Porto Marghera can be an area capable of attracting investments harbingers of development, employment and innovation for the benefit of Venice, Veneto and the country and fully embodying the sensitivity towards a concrete environmental sustainability”.