(Finance) – The Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility, Enrico Giovannini, signed the decree which defines the procedure to be followed to carry out interventions for a total 220 million eurosfinanced by the National Complementary Fund (Pnc), aimed at the realization of natural gas liquefaction plantsof refueling points in liquefied natural gas ports (LNG and Bio-LNG) and for the purchase of ships to allow the activities of bunkering. The decree, prepared on the basis of discussions with the operators of the sector, defines the procedures for submitting the request to access the grant and establishes the necessary requirements for the beneficiaries of the intervention. In particular, the requests they can be submitted starting from 9:00 on 10 July, until 13:00 on 10 September 2022, while by 30 September 2022 the Administration will define the ranking for the admission of projects to the contribution.
The contribution goes to finance three types of intervention: 90 million for the construction of natural gas liquefaction plants, 40 million for the construction of LNG and Bio-LNG refueling points in the port area, 90 million for the purchase of naval units for bunkering activities. THE contributions they are intended for companies producing and distributing liquefied natural gas and for shipowners who refuel naval units in the port area.
The method of exam questions includes a phase investigation, carried out by the Directorate General for the supervision of the Port System Authorities of the Ministry, and a decision-making phase for which the appointment of an Evaluation Commission formed by subjects internal and external to the Administration is envisaged. There assessment applications will be made on the basis of specific criteria, such as: the quality of the project; the innovative elements and the technical-scientific contents of the project; the expected impact on the production chain in the reference area; the contribution to energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
For the liquefaction plants and the construction of the refueling points, the works must be completed by 31 March 2026, while the purchase of naval units for the bunkering it must take place by 31 March 2025. However, the Ministry’s Management reserves the right to admit to the contribution also interventions that require a longer time in the presence of duly justified circumstances or technical conditions.