Steel

Former Ilva, Taranto mayor orders power plant shutdown: pole at risk of blockage

The stop must be made within 30 days of the measure. The company is accused of failing to submit a non-carcinogenic risk reduction plan for the emission parameters arsenic, cobalt and nickel

by Domenico Palmiotti

14 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Where the story comes from
Company will appeal to the TAR: serious setbacks
Perspectives

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Acciaierie d'Italia Energia must shut down within 30 days, starting on 13 April, the power plant that feeds the plants of the former Ilva steel plant in Taranto. This was ordered by the mayor of Taranto, Piero Bitetti, accusing the company, which is part of the AdI group under extraordinary administration, of still being 'in default with regard to the presentation of the reduction plan for the non-carcinogenic risk, regarding the emission parameters arsenic, cobalt, nickel'.

The ordinance states that 'the environmental precautionary principle, enshrined in Article 3-ter of the EU-derived Environmental Code, requires that when there is uncertainty or reasonable doubt as to the existence or extent of risks to human health, protective measures may be adopted without having to wait until the actual existence and seriousness of such risks have been fully demonstrated'. And Law No 21 of 2012 of the Apulia Region 'aims to prevent and avoid a serious, immediate or deferred danger to the health of living beings and the regional territory'.

Where does the story come from

The affair that today leads to the ordinance stems from the Health Damage Assessment (Vds) in the Taranto area referring to 2024 and drawn up by Arpa Puglia, Aress Puglia and Asl Taranto on the basis of the 2012 regional law. The Vds states that the 'inhalation carcinogenic risk obtained by evaluating the Aia scenario (scenario related to the emissions of AdI, Eni refinery and power plant, Cisa, Appia Energy, AdI Energia, Ecologica, Kyma Ambiente, Italcave, Hidrochemical), is higher than the acceptability threshold, beyond which it is necessary to plan an intervention to reduce exposure'.

In March 2025, the Puglia Regional Council took note of this report, and the Region's Environment Department then invited the plants concerned to submit an emissions reduction plan. In turn, AdI Energia requested a review of the regional act in self-defence, but received the Region's reply that the steel plant fell within the scope of the regional law. And therefore the reduction plan had to be submitted. In June 2025, the Region also warned Acciaierie d'Italia Energia to submit the reduction plan 'with the measures and actions to be implemented to achieve the reduction targets prescribed in the 2024 Vds Taranto report, for subsequent evaluation and approval by Arpa Puglia, Aress Puglia and Asl Taranto', but the company, according to the order issued by the mayor of Taranto, has not given any signals.

The company will appeal to the TAR: serious setbacks

Meanwhile, Acciaierie d'Italia, formerly Ilva, is already preparing to appeal the mayor's order to the TAR (Regional Administrative Court), requesting its suspension. For the company, in fact, by imposing the stop on the plant, it is no longer possible to recover and manage the gases of the steelmaking cycle, which, since they cannot even be burnt in a torch, remain without any possibility of disposal.

Under these conditions, therefore, the production cycle cannot continue and the inability to handle the gases of the steelmaking cycle means, as a consequence of the order, the shutdown of the hot area, the heart of the Taranto plant. This at a time when, as maintenance work is nearing its end, the restart of a second blast furnace, blast furnace 4, and of the coke oven batteries is being planned, in both cases scheduled for the end of the month so as to have the plant's annual production capacity of 4 million tonnes from May.

The shutdown of the plant also makes it impossible to supply the electricity produced by the steelmaking gases, which is currently used to power the downstream plants of the hot area in Taranto, and thus an essential component for the operation of the entire site is lost. And without the hot area and therefore without steel production in Taranto, not only downstream processing at the site, but also the group's other plants in northern Italia, will come to a halt.

The Outlook

But above all, it should be pointed out, the mayor of Taranto's decision comes just a few days after the meeting between the mayor himself and representatives of the Indian steel group Jindal, a candidate for the purchase of the entire industrial asset and now in pole position over its competitor, the American fund Flacks Group. Jindal - who also met the mayor of Genoa, Silvia Salis, and the governor of Liguria, Marco Bucci, while he had a telephone conversation with the president of Puglia, Antonio Decaro - presented his proposal to local institutions.

The meetings were described by the interlocutors as 'positive', but now the determination taken by mayor Bitetti risks bringing the Taranto plant to a halt in production.

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