Environment-friendliness in Maritime Transport: Designing Smart Recharging Stations in North Adriatic Sea

Today, the electrification plays a crucial role in the challenge towards the energy sustainability. Focusing on the transportation field, the integration of carbon-free electric vehicles (cars, ships, trains and so on) and smart charging infrastructures based on renewable resources can strongly reduce the pollutants emissions of human mobility, while at the same time promoting the Smart City paradigm. In this context, the INTERREG project METRO (Maritime Environment-friendly TRanspOrt systems) is aimed at proposing innovative solutions for the improvement of the environmental sustainability in the North Adriatic maritime transport. The goal is to be reached by means of an integrated strategy, focusing on tackling both ships and ports. On one hand, by using electrical propulsion and energy storage systems onboard the ship, it is possible to decrease the vessel's environmental impact while sailing. On the other hand, a well-designed recharging infrastructure in the port can recharge the ship's energy storage system while at berth, possibly exploiting renewable carbon-free resources.