The PoWER project developed and tested a new Methodology and Strategy supporting the evolution of 6 Adriatic-Ionian pilot ports (Bari, Brčko, Durres, Igoumenitsa, Ravenna and Rijeka) into “Innovation Hubs”. The state of “Innovation Hub” is basically an attitude of a port towards change which implies the commitment to a three-steps methodology to address topic-specific needs, i.e.: needs mapping; ideas and solutions scouting; scenarios foresight. Our piloting process related to energy efficiency has brought us to the detection of 14 needs.