Milazzo industrial centre accelerates energy transition and reconversion

An environmental transition but also a social one. Investments to make plants more sustainable, the creation of a new hydrogen hub, the expansion of the port of Giammoro. The industrial area of Milazzo in the province of Messina is now on the way, in the midst of change: much has already been done, the rest is a challenge to be taken up in 2026.

There are three major players in this phase: the Milazzo Refinery, which is owned by Eni and Q8; Duferco's production site in the Giammoro area; and A2A, which owns the San Filippo del Mela power plant. At the centre of the system remains the Milazzo Refinery, one of the country's main production sites: the plant processes over 10 million tonnes of crude oil a year, contributing around 20-25% to Italian gasoline and diesel consumption, employs 643 direct employees, and generates work for over 1,250 employees of third-party companies. 'The transition,' says President Roberto Grillo, 'is not an immediate switch from on to off, but a gradual path, capable over time of generating a cross-sector improvement in environmental, industrial and technological terms. Sustainability understood in a broad, 360-degree sense, which brings together efficiency, innovation and competitiveness'. In the two-year period 2023-2024, the Refinery has launched projects for over EUR 40 million, intervening on the transformation of some furnaces from fuel oil to gas, the recovery of flare gases, and the strengthening of advanced control systems to optimise consumption.

These are complemented by a 30 MW photovoltaic park, currently under construction on about 40 hectares, intended to cover between 5 and 10% of the site's electricity needs. A project to recover hydrogen from a biogas stream is also under development. The refinery is also developing a generative artificial intelligence project: an operational copilot will work alongside the physical operator in one of the main plants dedicated to petrol production. The third axis of intervention concerns biofuels: the aim is the progressive integration of the bio component within a traditional refinery through co-processing. Blending, the first step to bring products with a bio component onto the market, has already been initiated.

At the same time, the Giammoro area is undergoing a profound reconversion. Duferco has moved beyond the site's historical steel-making vocation to focus on logistics, ports and energy. The heart of the change is the Giammoro logistics hub, developed on the former industrial area with total investments estimated at around EUR 95 million. The interventions also involved rail and road connections, with direct benefits for the area, and were supported by Banco Bpm and Sace, to support the relaunch of the site and employment recovery. A key step was the start-up in 2025 of the Duferco Terminal Mediterraneo, Sicily's first private container and multipurpose terminal. Thanks to the concession of the jetty until 2049 and the installation of modern port equipment, the terminal is now able to handle containers, various goods and project cargo, targeting European, North African and Middle Eastern markets. The impact on the Milazzo area is significant because it strengthens the port's role as a logistics hub in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Completing the picture is the prospect of the Hydrogen Valley under construction in Giammoro, with the installation of an electrolyser powered by a photovoltaic plant for the production of green hydrogen for industrial and logistical uses. A project that strengthens the link between energy transition, industrial reconversion and local development.

On the energy front, the role of A2A's San Filippo del Mela plant is strategic for the security of the regional electricity system. This is where A2A's specific investments for a new phase of development are to be found: around 250 million euros of hypothesised investment, destined for energy storage systems (Bess) and a Forsu plant for the treatment of the organic fraction of waste, with a capacity of 70 thousand tonnes per year: Bess systems for 20 Mw are already authorised and an expansion up to a total of 60 Mw has been requested.