To develop port infrastructures and supply chains energy and industrial upstream necessary for decarbonisation of maritime transport in Italy, 36 billion euros are needed of investments to 2050, including the development of storage and bunkering infrastructures, of the units for ship-to-ship refuelling and for the electrification of docks, in addition to the national fuel production capacity alternatives. These are investments capable of activating 105 billion euros in production value and generate 45 billion of added value, equal to 1.24 times the investment initial impact. The repercussions would affect the entire territory with the South and the Islands intercepting 51.4% of the added value generated by bunkering investments, enhancing the position of the southern ports along the main Mediterranean routes. These estimates are contained in the strategic report "Decarbonising the sea, strengthening Italy: maritime transport, energy carriers and ports, new competitiveness in the Mediterranean" carried out by TEHA Group in collaboration with Edison and NextChem presented today in the closed-door proceedings of the 52nd edition of the Forum of Cernobbio.

The report explains that maritime transport accounts for 14% of transport emissions in the EU-27 and 7% in Italy, but more than 95% of the European and Italian fleet still uses fuels and highlights that decarbonisation is not no longer just an environmental obligation, but a factor of competitiveness, because regulation, cost of CO2, Infrastructure availability and fuel volatility are redefining the economics of the sector and the attractiveness of the of ports. In particular, the report notes that ports are the central hub of the transition: in Europe, decarbonisation is the investment driver that recorded the highest growth of relevance over the last five years and the ability to offer alternative infrastructure and fuels at competitive conditions will be increasingly decisive for attracting and preserving traffic.

The study shows how the energy transition of transport will follow a gradual and multi-fuel trajectory. In the "Industry driven" scenario developed by TEHA, built on the basis of current signs of industrial evolution and using ship orders as an indicator of the choices of Shipowners' investment, alternative fuels reach 65.5% of the energy mix by 2050, driven by biofuels (50.7%), while the fossil fuels maintain a share of 34.5%, with a role in liquefied natural gas. This evolution would allow a 54% reduction in emissions by 2050 and would require 36 billion euros of investment in port infrastructures and upstream energy and industrial supply chains.

The report points out that the industrial benefits related to the decarbonisation of maritime transport, those environment: in the absence of further investment, the social cost cumulative emissions would reach around €51.7 billion in the period 2026-2050, compared to 40 billion in the "Industry driven". Failure to adapt would therefore result in approximately €11.7 billion in additional social costs for the country-system.

"The evidence of this study - commented Fabrizio Mattana, executive vice president of Gas Assets at Edison, in sight of the presentation of the report - confirm the importance of the decarbonisation of transport, in particular maritime transport, and the role of ports as a lever for development and competitiveness for the country". "The decarbonisation of transport - observed Giovanni Sale, senior vice president Energy Nextchem's Transition Strategy – is one of the most of the energy transition, because it requires combining security of supply, sustainability and competitiveness on a global scale. There is no such thing as a technology able to solve this challenge: we need an ecosystem diversified low-emission energy carriers, where the methanol is emerging as one of the most concrete and scalable".

"The transition of maritime transport - underlined Lorenzo Tavazzi, senior partner and board member of TEHA - is not More a hypothesis, but a process that has already begun: fuel Alternative vessels now account for 51% of ship tonnage globally ordered. The long service life of the ships makes but this necessarily gradual and multi-fuel path, and precisely for this reason it requires a long-term industrial vision period. For Italy, this is a challenge of competitiveness, but above all of a concrete and measurable opportunity: the TEHA scenario indicates that €36 billion of investments by 2050 can reduce emissions by 54%, activate 105 billion euros of production value and generate €45 billion in value more than half of which in the South. È the sign that decarbonization and industrial growth can move in the same direction. The real stakes are this: to transform the decarbonisation of the sea into a lever of industrial policy. Not to do so would mean giving up about 80 billion euros of added value and, with them, the centrality of of Italy in the Mediterranean".