A five-party consortium including Ports of Genoa and FS Logistix has signed an agreement to produce and use green hydrogen at the port of Savona, with rail freight operations — including last-mile movements within the port — named as a target application.

Edison, Assocostieri and the Logistics Association of Sustainable Intermodal (ALIS) complete the consortium. Deputy Minister of Transport Edoardo Rixi attended the signing ceremony. "Savona could become a concrete laboratory for the energy transition of Italian ports," Rixi said.

Ports of Genoa, which also oversees Savona, said the parties will work to identify suitable hydrogen users for logistics activities on both land and sea, and to define the "optimal technical-economic configuration of hydrogen production and distribution plants". No production capacity figures, timelines or budget amounts were disclosed at signing.

For rail freight, the project is aimed at displacing diesel in shunting and short-distance port drayage — duty cycles where hydrogen fuel cell or hybrid shunters can operate without overhead line infrastructure. The consortium has not yet specified which locomotives or rail operations would be converted.

Fabrizio Mattana, Executive Vice President Gas Assets at Edison, framed the pilot as a template rather than a one-off. The goal, he said, is to build an environment that serves Savona's needs but can also be replicated across other Italian ports.

Parallel hydrogen projects elsewhere

The Savona agreement is the latest in a series of attempts to cut diesel consumption in rail freight through hydrogen. In the UK, GB Railfreight is cooperating with US-based HyOrc to convert traditional diesel engines to hydrogen power units. China is pursuing the same route: last summer, CRRC unveiled VELFORCE, a new brand of modular freight locomotives built around battery, hydrogen fuel cell and diesel-battery hybrid power, aimed at mines and ports.

Neither project has yet reached large-scale deployment, and CRRC itself appears to position battery-electric hybrids as the nearer-term option within its modular family.

Unproven economics

For ports, the Savona pilot's first task is commercial rather than technical: matching production capacity to real offtake. The consortium's stated focus on finding hydrogen users — before committing to a plant configuration — signals that demand-side certainty remains the binding constraint.

The outcome to watch is whether Savona demonstrates a bankable technical-economic case for hydrogen in port rail operations that other Italian ports can copy. Until production volumes, conversion costs and operator commitments are published, the project remains a framework agreement rather than a funded investment plan.