Italy-headed oil and gas major Eni S.p.A. has revealed that it is investigating the possibility to build a third biorefinery, this time at its industrial site in Livorno.
According to a statement, the feasibility study involves building three new units needed for the production of hydrogenated biofuel – a biomass feedstock pre-treatment unit, a 500 000 tonnes per annum capacity “Ecofining” unit, and a plant for the production of hydrogen from methane gas.
We are working to reach an important milestone in Eni’s decarbonization strategy and the path we undertook many years ago, with the transformation of the first refinery in Venice into a biorefinery back in 2014, said Giuseppe Ricci, Chief Operating Officer of Eni’s Energy Evolution.
The coexistence of bio- and traditional plants has been successfully tested with the recent production of Eni Biojet in Livorno, the first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) exclusively from waste raw materials, animal fats, and used vegetable oils thanks to the synergy with Eni’s biorefinery in Gela. Our goal is to increase the availability of decarbonized and sustainable products to our customers and to meet our scope 3 emission reduction targets, Giuseppe Ricci said.
The construction of the new biorefinery – located in an industrial area that houses fuel and lubricant production facilities – would maximize synergies from the infrastructure already available and secure the site’s future as an employment and production hub.
I wish to express my deep appreciation for Eni’s decision to investigate the conversion of the Livorno refinery into a bio-refinery, focusing on a sustainable energy transition both in terms of the environment and the outlet market. The technological innovation and size of the investment, as well as the plant synergies between new and previous production activities, open up a real pathway for development that maintains the current workforce and the entire production chain. These are forward-looking choices, compatible with the area in which these projects are located, and which will also benefit from the infrastructural competitiveness generated by the modernization of the Port of Livorno with the Europa dock, said Eugenio Giani, President of Tuscany.
Eni is the second-largest biofuel producer in Europe with 1.1 million tonnes per year and targets to increase the share to 2 million by 2025 and to 6 million in the next decade.
Its biorefineries in Venice and Gela transform waste raw materials, residues, and waste resulting from the processing of vegetable products and oils from crops that do not compete with the food chain into high-quality advanced biofuels – such as renewable diesel (HVO) and also bioLPG and bioNaphtha, for use in the chemical industry.
During these three years in office, the identification of clear industrial and employment prospects for the Eni refinery in Stagno has seen our constant commitment alongside institutions, trade unions, and the company, with the goal of giving the plant a future and certainty to its workers. I am very pleased to see how the efforts of all parties have led to the establishment of a virtuous path that we hope will lead to the construction of a new biorefinery, a project that combines industrial goals, environmental compatibility, and stability of employment, said Luca Salvetti, Mayor of Livorno.
We have been actively involved in this process, and in March of this year, we sat at the table called for by the Ministry of Economic Development alongside the company’s top management, President Giani, and workers’ representatives. That commitment is now beginning to bear fruit and the way forward is outlined. Work is, and will always remain, at the heart of the goals of this administration, which is ready to provide a stable and collaborative institutional partner to all those involved on this front in the future, Mayor Luca Salvetti said.
From 2023, Eni will no longer process palm oil and will make available pure hydrogenated biofuel containing a 100 percent biogenic component, which Eni says on a Well-to-Wheel basis can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) by up to 90 percent.
The design of the three new plants in Livorno will be completed by 2023 and construction could take place by 2025.
The transformation plan for the Livorno refinery will be discussed with local institutions and trade unions within the framework of a participatory and inclusive industrial relations model.
The construction of a bio-refinery inside the Eni plant in Stagno – a proposal that I and Mayor Luca Salvetti first put forward in a press conference in January 2021 as a suitable solution for our territory both in terms of maintaining skilled jobs and preserving the environment – is now becoming a reality. This study is already an achievement and a commitment to future development with Eni’s investment at a high level of technical innovation. A good team effort by Eni and Tuscany with the municipalities of Livorno and Collesalvetti said Adelio Antolini Mayor of Collesalvetti.
