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As you may know, until May 8 there is an opportunity to use state incentives dedicated to recreational boating to refurbish old heat engines in our boats and their tenders to replace them with modern electric motors. Only propulsion ones, between 0.5 and 12 Kw of outboard and inboard types, are covered by the measure. Individuals will be able to apply for up to two engines, up to a total contribution of €8,000, while businesses up to €50,000 for multiple engines. The facility is granted in the form of a non-repayable contribution and to the maximum extent of 50 percent of eligible expenses. To apply for it, one must access the INVITALIA Desk.
From a purely technical standpoint, it is good to be clear: replacing thermal engines in a market now cannibalized by planing hulls may not seem particularly inviting. Indeed, for these boats, the power-to-weight ratio is critical, and battery technology has yet to make significant strides for it to be an economically attractive route. However, this does not mean that the facility is not attractive to the powerboat world. There are at least 3 cases where it could be an attractive option, especially given the amounts that can be disbursed.
First, there are fewer and fewer displacement hulls, but that does not mean they are not extinct. On the contrary, precisely because we are probably talking about older units, they may have older engines and therefore “in the air for replacement.” Small vessels, for example, goiters, need low power and related small batteries, without compromising too much on range. For external battery installations of any kind, one can apply for up to €10,000 in grants. Of course, one always has to consider the availability of dockside charging, a sore point when it comes to these matters.
Second, Marine Protected Areas or for that matter all those areas that require electric boating are becoming, for better or worse, an increasingly common reality, and the trend certainly does not seem to be diminishing. In this case, regardless of the type of hull, if you are planning to sail in these waters, you have undoubtedly already considered this opportunity.
Last but not least: you may have a small tender, and want to change the remnant of war that propels it. In this eventuality, €2,000 subsidy for a small electric outboard with built-in battery, eliminating even the need for gasoline (or, worse, mixture) could make the replacement a rather attractive bargain.
Bonus case: if you are abusiness in the industry, perhaps a rentalbusiness, with a clientele that only goes as far as short haul, with a dock that you could equip with a charging station, contributions go up to €50,000!
To access the aforementioned bonus, it is necessary to submit the DCI (Declaration of Construction or Importation) of the unit to which you want to replace the old heat engine with an electric one, a kind of boat identity card, which can be requested online at the dedicated portal of Confindustria Nautica.
But what to do about those vessels that do not have CE marking or, even, any kind of document? Situation that is anything but rare when it comes to the tenders or small vessels, perhaps with a few years on their shoulders. Either because they are old, children of an era when not everything needed a certificate in triplicate, and so they never had it, or because it was lost, perhaps in previous changes of ownership. In this case, there is the possibility of submitting a self-declaration of non-possession of technical documents, and then filling out the form in which the unit’s data are requested. The paperwork costs about 30 euros.
This document, the DCI, is becoming more and more in demand, and perhaps it may be worthwhile to require an attestation of suitability issued by a Technical Body in lieu of self-certification. We have taken RINA as a reference. Costs clearly vary depending on the type of unit, but we were asked for 500 euros plus tax for the inspection of a 7-meter (here is the quote we were given). But further variations can be attributed to the area of Italy you are in versus their inspectors, or depending on whether the boat is on dry land or in the water.
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