Pleasure boating wants to be sustainable and Italy will be at the forefront with the first green hydrogen refueling infrastructure in the world.
It is a NatPower H project in which 25 Italian marinas and ports have already joined in which the stations designed by Zaha Hadid Architects will be built, the first already by the summer at the Marina Sant'Elena in Venice.
The project, also in collaboration with Baglietto, BluEnergy Revolution, Bluegame, Fitchner, Linde, Studio Maresca, Sige and Tecma Solutions, involves an investment of 100 million euros with the aim of reaching at least 100 refueling stations in the next six years and exporting this model also to other areas beyond the Mediterranean Sea, where we are already looking at Spain and the coast of North Africa.
Hydrogen - explains Fabrizio Zago, CEO of NatPower - represents one of the most effective solutions to boost the energy transition of the entire recreational boating and yachting sector.
In particular, the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, through fuel cells and electric motors, is proving to be one of the most promising options, offering optimal performance while respecting the environment". The first to experiment with it are superyachts but engines are also being studied hydrogen outboard engines, the entire industry is being pushed towards eco-friendly innovations, "a rapid energy transition slowed down by the lack of infrastructure for the distribution and supply of zero impact energy sources" explains NatPower H which has therefore signed an agreement with Zaha Hadid Architects for the design of the infrastructure. "The stations will be built with low-energy, unreinforced digital concrete.
With structural strength resulting from geometry rather than engineered materials, we have found a connection between the consolidated past of ancient construction techniques and advanced sustainable and circular technologies" underlines Filippo Innocenti, director of Zaha HadidArchitects.
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