In the decarbonization of Italian maritime transport, a fundamental role will be played by the Public Administration and its ability to direct its procurement from a Green Public Procurement perspective.
This is supported by a study from the Blue Economy Monitor, a new observatory by Intesa Sanpaolo and Sda Bocconi School of Management, which starts from several premises: the difficulties, in general, of a green transition path for the sea transport sector (high initial investments, regulatory fragmentation, ‘full’ shipyards) in Italy are compounded by other specifics of the particular context.
Among these, the presence of 56 commercial ports (which limits the possibility of achieving economies of scale in building infrastructure for alternative fuels), the predominance of liner traffic (over 70% of berths are related to ferries, cruise ships, and containers) which requires a coordinated approach among multiple ports for the supply of alternative fuels (or which pits different national markets against each other), the weight among these of public service connections (over 220 ships employed), the ‘usual’ procedural and authorization difficulties, also concerning coastal deposits for LNG, the proximity of the ports to city centers.
In this framework, the analysis notes, public policies have so far focused on two directions, namely the development of cold ironing and the use of LNG, which together, however, are set to produce very limited effects in terms of emission reduction even in the coming years.
In short, the decarbonization of sea transport in Italy requires a change of pace and a systemic approach. According to the researchers, this approach will need to include the Public Administration among the main actors in the process.
The first point highlighted by the study is therefore the need to strengthen Green Public Procurement, i.e., the PA’s procurement capacity in a green key “by revising the procedures for awarding service contracts” and introducing incentive elements for the use of alternative fuels and for the retrofitting of engines and on-board electrical networks.
The report pays particular attention to this issue, noting the need to modernize the fleet in service on territorial continuity links, but also pointing out how in 2021 the MIT effectively gave up using tenders for public service lines as a tool for decarbonization (for example, with obligations on vessels). This is a point, however, that the study suggests the ministry could begin to remedy as early as 2026, when the contracts for Genova – Porto Torres, Civitavecchia – Arbatax – Cagliari and Cagliari – Napoli / Palermo expire, on which the MIT could prescribe more stringent requirements “such as the need to operate the lines with ships equipped with cold ironing, hybrid propulsion, or powered by alternative fuels”.
In this area, the study highlights the need to adopt similar initiatives for routes operated by fast units, which, often having a tonnage of less than 400 GT, are exempt from both the /Marpol and FuelEU Maritime provisions, and the ETS regulation.
Another critical point of ‘typical’ Italian maritime transport service tenders, according to the observatory, concerns the temporal structure of the calls for tender, which are awarded with no lead time before the service start and require vessel availability. Constraints which together “restrict the market” to only those operators who already have the ships to use available, thus preventing the start of newbuilding projects. Hence the proposal to introduce the possibility of starting services “after 2/4 years from the award” in order to allow the construction of new units. Another limitation in this regard is the duration of the related service contracts (usually a maximum of 6 years, compared to a vessel’s useful life of 30), which the researchers suggest increasing to 12 in order to incentivize investments in new vessels, as permissible under the community discipline.
Leaving public procurement tenders, and moving to other areas of intervention, the study then cites the need for coordination in cold ironing initiatives, so that “governance, tariffs, and methods for managing electricity supply” are standardized among different ports.
Another area to focus on, given also the presence of an advanced supply chain compared to other contexts, is that of Carbon Capture technologies, both on-board and onshore, leveraging the Italian industrial expertise of entities such as Fincantieri, Saipem, Snam, Eni.
The study therefore suggests activating ad-hoc strategies on routes of particular socio-economic importance (such as Naples-Palermo or Livorno-Olbia) to foster the development of green corridors, in order to enable access to the Innovation Fund, supported by the Afif (Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility) funds of the Cef (Connecting Europe Facility) program.
Finally, the analysis emphasizes the need for coordinated port energy planning, through a uniform and synergistic update of the Deasp (Documenti di Pianificazione Energetica e Ambientale di Sistema Portuale – Port System Energy and Environmental Planning Documents), considering the interdependencies between ports and lines (cruise, ro-ro and container).
F.M.
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