Suspension of the former Ilva thermoelectric power plant, managed by Adi Energia srl in extraordinary administration, within 30 days: this requires the new ordinance of the mayor of Taranto, Pietro Bitetti, “until the reduction plan is presented” of emissions and subsequent evaluation and approval by the competent bodies.
A stoppage that could also make it impossible to supply the electricity produced by steel gas, which is currently used to power the plants downstream of the hot area in Taranto. According to experts, in this way an essential component for the functioning of the entire site would be missing, with effects on the group’s other factories in Northern Italy.
What Piero Bitetti criticizes the company, which is part of the AdI group in extraordinary administration, is that it is still “defaulting on the presentation of the reduction plan regarding the non-carcinogenic risk, in relation to the emission parameters arsenic, cobalt, nickel”.
The ordinance of the mayor of Taranto refers, in fact, to the “environmental precaution principle“sanctioned by art. 3-ter of the Environmental Code, which “requires that when there are uncertainties or a reasonable doubt regarding the existence or extent of risks to people’s health, protective measures may be adopted without having to wait for the actual existence and severity of such risks to be fully demonstrated”, we read in the document, and “considered to intervene to protect public health” orders “the company Adi Energia srl in AS to suspend, within 30 days, the operation of the installation authorized by Aia” and “until the presentation of the reduction plan containing the measures and interventions to be implemented to achieve the reduction objectives prescribed in the Vds Taranto Report for the year 2024 and subsequent evaluation and approval by Arpa Puglia, Aress Puglia and ASL Taranto”.
The provision can be appealed to the head of state and to the TAR of Puglia respectively within 120 days or 60 days from notification of the act.
Former Ilva: between ongoing sale and open disputes
The ordinance comes at a still delicate stage for the sale of the former Ilva: the Indian Jindal group remains the favorite over the US fund Flacks Group. However, the provision is part of an already complex context also on a legal level.
On April 22, the first hearing will be held in front of the Court of Appeal of Milan on the preliminary issues related to the appeal against the sentence issued in February by the Court of Milan. That decision required the company to modify some environmental requirements contained in the AIA granted in August 2025. If these adjustments are not made, starting from August 24th the hot area will have to stop.
Another important step is set for May 19th, when the TAR of Lecce will discuss the appeal presented by associations and movements against the latest AIA.
Furthermore, the criminal front remains pending: in fact, the Court of Cassation is expected to establish the date of the hearing on the failure to release blast furnace 1, which was seized without the right to use it after the fire which occurred in May last year on the orders of the Prosecutor’s Office and the investigating judge of Taranto.
