Genoa wants to make its own power for ships at berth. The port authority for the Western Ligurian Sea is studying a new gas fired power plant on the site of the former Enel power station in the historic port, fuelled by LNG delivered by sea. The plant would supply electricity for cold ironing and heat for a district heating network in the neighbouring districts.
Port authority president Matteo Paroli set out the idea in mid October, in a video interview for an event held by Assocostieri, the Italian association of coastal depot and terminal operators. He linked the plan to the port's rising energy needs: once fully operational, he expects the port to consume more than 1.7 TWh of electricity a year. The project is being considered as part of the new port master plan now being drafted. It has not yet been presented to the City of Genoa.
At a glance
Genoa port power plant studyPromoterPort System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea (Ports of Genoa)SiteFormer Enel power station, Lanterna basin, historic port of GenoaPrevious useCoal fired plant, opened 1929, idle since March 2017Proposed fuelLNG delivered by seaUsesElectricity for cold ironing; district heating for nearby districtsPort demand forecastMore than 1.7 TWh a year at full operationStatusUnder study, within the new port master planNot yet disclosedPlant capacity, cost, partners, timeline
The site
The Enel station sits on port authority land at the Lanterna basin, close to the passenger terminals. It burned coal from 1929 until it went idle in March 2017, and has been the subject of reuse proposals ever since, from new terminal space to an industrial museum. That history still matters: Italy's Ministry of Culture has made converting the building into a museum hub one of its conditions for authorising the infilling of the neighbouring Calata Concenter. Any power plant on the site would have to fit around that condition.
Where Genoa's cold ironing stands
The plant is being studied while the port's shore power programme is still catching up.
- Phase 1, cruise berths: Ponte dei Mille Levante, Ponte dei Mille Ponente and Ponte Andrea Doria Ponente at the Stazioni Marittime. The scheme was upgraded from 14 MW to 42 MW. The original contract aimed to electrify the passenger area by 2023; first tests are now expected in the second half of 2026
- Phase 2, ferry berths: the berths further west, with completion now planned for 2028 at the earliest and supplier tenders still pending
- Full system: about 60 MW, enough to connect every ship at the cruise and ferry berths at the same time, served by a new transformer substation
- Phase 3: other port areas, later
Funding has also moved. In June 2026 Italy's Court of Auditors flagged the ferry project as out of step with recovery plan (PNRR) deadlines, putting €32 million at risk. A transport ministry decree then switched the PNRR money to the Genoa and Savona cruise berth projects, which can meet the deadline, while the ferry work is to be funded from the national Infrastructure Fund.
Why a port would build its own plant
A fully electrified port draws large, peaky loads. Several cruise ships plugging in at once can need tens of megawatts, and the grid connection, new substations and supply contracts are often the slowest and most expensive part of a shore power project. A dedicated plant inside the port would give the authority control over supply and could also sell heat to the city.
The trade off is emissions. Paroli has pointed to LNG's low output of nitrogen oxides, sulphur and particulates compared with ship engines running at berth, which is the main local air quality gain from cold ironing. The climate case is less clear. Moving generation from the ship to a gas plant on the quay shifts emissions rather than removing them, and the full footprint of seaborne LNG depends on liquefaction, shipping, regasification and any methane leakage along the chain. No capacity, efficiency or lifecycle figures have been published yet.
The wider LNG picture in Liguria
The proposal fits a broader push by the port authority on LNG. Paroli has backed the private Gnl Med project for a 19,800 m³ LNG and bioLNG depot at Vado Ligure, which has faced delays and is at risk of losing part of its public funding, and has said some fuel depots in Genoa and Savona will need to switch to the fuels the market increasingly asks for.
More on Mediterranean shore power is in Cold ironing in the Mediterranean: which ports can plug in a ship today and Shore power and OPS.
Genoa's question is no longer whether to plug ships in, but where the power comes from. The answer it picks will set a template for other congested Mediterranean ports.
