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Maintain high competitiveness standards of the airport and, at the same time, accelerate the path towards environmental sustainability. It is along this dual path – explains a press release – that the two measures just adopted by the president of the Port System Authority of the Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas, Paolo Piacenza, move, who signed the decree awarding the works to complete the dredging of the port channel and, at the same time, signed the ordinance which starts the works of the first lot of the project to complete the cold ironing system. Two strategic interventions, different in purpose but – it should be noted – closely connected in the vision of the port’s development: on the one hand, the need to preserve over time the infrastructural characteristics that allow Gioia Tauro to accommodate the largest container ships at sea; on the other, the creation of one of the main infrastructures for reducing emissions from ships while docked at the dock.
«With a project investment of five million euros – continues the press release – the Spanish company Dravo was awarded the works to complete the dredging of the port channel. The intervention is aimed at bringing the seabed along the southern evolution basin and the Erava quay to minus 17, thus reaching an overall channel depth of between minus 17 and minus 19 metres. This is – explains the Authority – an essential activity to preserve one of the main distinctive characteristics of the port of Gioia Tauro, conditions that allow the safe entry and movement of the latest generation ships, with lengths exceeding 400 meters and widths over 64 metres, capable of transporting over 24 thousand TEUs”.
At the same time, according to what has been announced, «the completion of the cold ironing system enters the operational phase, through the start of the works entrusted to the Temporary Group of Companies made up of Saet Spa and Suardi Spa. In parallel with the construction works of the electrical substation and the second power substation of the dock electrification system, for an initial investment of 30 million euros which can be extended to 70 million euros, we are therefore proceeding, through the presidential ordinance, upon completion of the first lot with the creation of a further cold ironing socket”.
«Overall, – it is underlined – with the construction of the second cabin and the related electromechanical works, the eastern quay will be equipped with five electrical sockets, three with the first lot and two foreseen as part of the second intervention. The entire infrastructure will reach a total power of 160 megawatts, capable of satisfying the energy needs of the port infrastructures and the operational needs of the terminal operator MedCenter Container Terminal, through the creation of 9 cold ironing sockets for the supply of container ships and one for the service of Ro-Ro ships. The overall electrification program of the port infrastructure – explains the note – exceeds 100 million euros of investments, confirming the centrality attributed by the Port System Authority to the energy transition of the port. The completion of the cold ironing is part of a path already concretely started. In recent months, in fact, the port of Gioia Tauro successfully completed the first operation to power a container megaship from shore, allowing the engines to be turned off while on the dock.
«With these two interventions – declares the president of the Port System Authority, Paolo Piacenza – we address two fundamental needs for the future of the port of Gioia Tauro: preserving the full efficiency of the infrastructure and accompanying the port in the energy transition. Dredging allows us to maintain the navigability conditions necessary to accommodate the latest generation ships and, therefore, to safeguard the competitiveness of our port. With the completion of cold ironing, however, we are taking a further step forward on the innovation and sustainability front, equipping our docks with a strategic infrastructure to reduce emissions during ship berths. These are investments that look beyond the immediate and strengthen the role of Gioia Tauro as the first transhipment port in Italy and as a strategic infrastructure for the Central-Southern logistics system.”