The European Investment Bank (EIB) provides a €300 million framework loan to Autorità di Sistema Portuale del Mar Ligure Occidentale (Port Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea) to contribute to financing the largest renewal of the Ligurian port area in the past 25 years.
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The plan, initiated before the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in 2018, became even more necessary and urgent in its aftermath. It spurred several public entities in the region to embark upon an ambitious investment programme aiming to improve access to Ligurian ports and airports.
The EIB loan will contribute to financing different works, including the new Genoa breakwater, for which the government has earmarked a total of €600 million (€500 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility Complementary Fund and €100 million from the Port Infrastructure Fund).
The work will reduce the risks of climate change induced flooding and enable modern cargo ships to access the port easily, loading and unloading cargo safely. It will facilitate access to the Port of Genoa, granting it a strategic advantage for capacity and production development.
The project will also contribute to upgrading the FuoriMuro railway network with 750 metres of track, benefiting freight transit and reducing the road traffic caused by arriving lorries.
The EIB financing will enable the restoration of existing quays and the development of shore to ship electrical connections (cold ironing), allowing berthed ships to receive power from the ground based electricity network, cutting emissions from fuel.
This operation will bring total EIB support for Italian ports to over €1 billion. This project is the EIB's third financial operation with the Ligurian port authority, after the success of investments made in 2012 and 2013 to renewof the ports of Genoa and Savona. ■
A low pressure wave forming along a cold front will track across the New England coast this morning, bringing a period of rain, heavy at times for much of New England, especially for Maine today.