Elettra the new Bologna airport service: electric vehicle free charge for its passengers

Guglielmo Marconi airport is now lighting green. The new “Elettra” charging station has been inaugurated last Friday by the Mobility and Traffic Councillor of Bologna, Mr. Andrea Colombo, and by the Airport’s President, Mrs. Giada Grandi. The new service consists of is an eco-friendly EV charging station whose energy comes from photovoltaic modules.


The solar charging station has been installed in the car park, close to the main terminal. This EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) has been manufactured by the Italian company Giulio Barbieri S.p.A. and it provides to all passengers the unique chance to recharge electric vehicles for free during their staying at the airport.

“Elettra’s activation is the proof of the great attention reserved by Marconi airport to the environmental sustainability” - remarks President Giada Grandi – “G. Marconi has been one of the first airports, early in 2001, investing in a 80 kW photovoltaic plant covering a total area of 1100 sq.m. In the past years our group has worked hard to reduce the environmental impact on our territory achieving a “Level 2: Reduction” by ACI Europe within the ‘Airport Carbon Accreditation’ Protocol to decrease the greenhouse effect due to gas emissions”.

Unveiling of the ev charging station - Bologna airport

Equipped with storage batteries placed on the top of an upper beam of the structure, the station can offer one or two charging points for a maximal power output of 3,5 kW. The installation has been designed to ensure an around-the-clock energy supply, even in case of bad weather conditions or insufficient irradiation: if needed users get automatically connected to the local electrical grid.

“This evse – explains Giulio Barbieri, president of the eponymous company – is part of a range of products, which meet the highest European quality standards. Our solar carports have achieved indeed the CE marking recently. The European market is the first to give credit to our work: we are proud to count among our latest jobs: the ev charging station for Baka, one of the largest in North America; the solar carport of 400 kW for the Swiss electric utility company S.I.G.; the solar stations for the charge of electric vehicles for the public administrations of Paris, of the German town Osnabrück and of the Swedish Helsinborg, not to mention the solar station for the recharge of electric bikes for the European Commission”.

‘Elettra’ the name chosen for the charging station, comes from a contest conducted among the airport employees. It has the function not only to recall the kind of service supplied – the charge of electric vehicles – but also to pay homage to princess Elettra Marconi, the daughter of the Nobel Prize in Physics Guglielmo Marconi, after whom the airport is named