TRIESTE – Work has officially begun in Porto Marghera on Italy’s first renewable hydrogen plant operating at 500 bar, to be built by the Sapio Group.
The project was made possible through a regional call for proposals and will receive approximately €17 million in funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), including €3 million for a 2 MW photovoltaic park to be built by ECO+ECO. The solar park will be dedicated exclusively to powering the electrolysis plant.
The facility, powered by renewable sources, will be built on a decommissioned industrial site, leveraging existing infrastructure. Completion is scheduled for June 30, 2026, in line with PNRR deadlines. The project also benefited from the support of the “Bluegate” Simplified Logistics Zone (ZLS), which streamlined the implementation process.
Fulvio Lino Di Blasio, president of the Port System Authority of Venice, emphasized that the Authority stands alongside companies driving innovation and sustainability within the industrial-logistics-port hub of Porto Marghera. In practical terms, Di Blasio explained, this means supporting companies in securing funding, accelerating permitting procedures—maximizing the advantages offered by the ZLS—promoting new developments to potential stakeholders, and, more broadly, improving access and performance across Porto Marghera’s port infrastructure for the benefit of all operating businesses.
At the symbolic foundation-pouring ceremony, Alberto Dossi, president of the Sapio Group, stated that “between 2024 and 2026”, around €40 million will be invested in Marghera to upgrade the plant, generate economic impact, create new jobs, and stimulate further private investment.
Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, Tommaso Foti, remarked that “this is already something of a miracle, having overcome the bureaucratic hurdles that often slow authorization processes, all for the achievement of a common goal: the Hydrogen Valley. Sapio represents a ‘can-do’ Italy.”
Regional Councillor for Economic Development, Roberto Marcato, stressed the importance of the project for the sustainable transition of industrial Venice, highlighting that “Porto Marghera is becoming an energy innovation hub.”
Domenico Russo, director of Sapio’s Porto Marghera plant, said that the main goal of the project is to ignite and support global decarbonization processes.
The Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic expressed great satisfaction, seeing this initiative as a virtuous step toward decarbonization and a key element in building a broader energy hub.
