Italy-headed oil, gas, and energy major Eni S.p.A., has announced that the first cargo of vegetable oil for biorefining produced by Makueni agri-hub in Kenya has left the Port of Mombasa, on its way to its Gela biorefinery in Italy.
The announcement marks the start of a transport and logistic system that will support the oilseed value chain in Kenya, starting with a production of 2 500 tonnes by the end of 2022 to scale up rapidly to 20 000 tonnes in 2023.
The vegetable oil is produced in the Makueni agri-hub, the pressing plant opened by the company in July 2022, and that processes castor oil, croton nut, and cotton seeds.
These are agri-feedstock – oilseeds and nuts that are not in competition with the food chain – and cultivated in degraded land areas, harvested from trees, or resulting from the valorization of agricultural by-products.
As such, they provide income opportunities and market access to thousands of farmers.
Just three months after the start-up of the Makueni agri-hub, we are launching the export of vegetable oil for the biorefineries, through a vertical integration model that enables the promotion of sustainable local development while valorizing the supply chain for biofuels production, said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.
The Makueni agri-hub also produces animal feed and bio-fertilizers from the protein component of seeds, benefiting livestock production and thus contributing to local food security.
These are the seeds of new energy, a concrete step to decarbonizing transport with an innovative approach that starting from the production in Kenya will extend to Congo in the next year, aiming at involving gradually the other African countries and geographic areas where we are carrying out these projects, Claudio Descalzi added.
Certified REDII-compliant feedstock
Eni Kenya, its supply chain, and all agri-feedstock developed are certified according to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification EU (ISCC-EU () sustainability scheme, one of the main voluntary standards recognized by the European Commission for the certification of biofuels for Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) compliance.
Eni was the first company in the world to certify castor oil and croton nut oil and to enable an African cotton mill to achieve these assurance standards, offering new market opportunities to local farmers for this raw material.
Eni launched the project in Kenya in 2021, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kenyan institutions.
The initiative foresees the construction of other agri-hubs, with the second one to be operational in 2023, and the production growth with the involvement of tens of thousands of farmers, contributing significantly to the country’s rural development and long-term value creation.
Export of UCO
In addition to non-edible vegetable oil, Eni has already started to export also the used cooking oil (UCO) collected from hotel chains, restaurants, and bars in Nairobi, through a project already underway that promotes the culture of recycling, raising awareness of the environmental and health benefits that derive from the proper disposal of waste oil, and generating income from waste.
Kenya leads the way for Eni’s initiatives in the agro-industrial chain, which currently includes Congo, Mozambique, Angola, Ivory Coast, Benin, Rwanda, and Kazakhstan.
For these countries, as well as for Italy, feasibility studies have been launched in the most mature realities aiming at carrying out the first phase of agricultural activities starting in 2022 and then proceeding with the construction of oilseed-pressing plants for biorefining.
The first cargo of vegetable oil from the Makueni agri-hub will be shipped to Eni’s biorefinery in Gela, Sicily, which was launched in 2019.
One of the most innovative advanced biofuel plants in Europe, Gela has high operational flexibility, able to process different types of feedstock, and has a permitted production capacity of 750 000 tonnes per annum.
By 2025, the company aims to cover 35 percent of its biorefineries’ supply thanks to the vertical integration of the agri-feedstock and waste, and residue chain, which will enable it to secure volumes of vegetable oil in a challenging environment in terms of prices, growing energy demand and availability of sustainable oils.
