LG Chem Ltd. and Eni SPA have signed a joint venture agreement for a planned biorefinery in South Korea, toward a final investment decision expected later this year.
The project is planned to rise in the town of Daesan on the west coast of the country where local company LG Chem operates a petrochemical complex. The biorefinery is planned to have a processing capacity of 400,000 metric tons of renewable bio-feedstocks annually with a product offering that includes bio-naphtha, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Eni has trademarked an HVO biofuel called HVOlution. Derived from vegetable residues and waste raw materials, or crop-based oil, HVOlution can deliver emission reductions of up to 90 percent relative to the benchmark European Union fossil blend, according to the Italian state-controlled energy major.
“Biofuel production is one of the main pillars of our strategy to contribute to reach net zero emissions by 2050 also through the sale of increasingly decarbonized products to our clients”, Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said in a recent statement about the joint venture deal.
“The biorefinery project we are working on together with LG Chem is a key element to expand Enilive biorefining presence internationally, to raise its capacity from current 1.65 million tons/year to over 5 million tons/year by 2030 and to increase the optionality of SAF production to up to 2 million tons/year from 2030”, Descalzi added referring to Eni’s sustainable mobility brand.
LG Chem meanwhile expects the project to help “solidify its position as a leading company in the eco-friendly plastic industry, achieving sustainable development and carbon neutrality as a true global entity”, LG Chem chief executive Shin Hak-cheol said.
The joint venture agreement was among several decarbonization deals executed by Eni in recent meetings in Rome, during which it also signed cooperation pacts with Kazakh companies to aid the Central Asian country’s energy transition.
Last November Eni announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Saipem SPA for the potential creation of biofuel production plants. The collaboration involves both converting fossil fuel refineries and building new biorefineries.
“The agreement is in line with the decarbonization goals of Eni and Saipem, and it focuses on the study for and subsequent potential construction of plants for the production of biojet, a sustainable aviation fuel, and of the biofuel HVO diesel, produced from 100 percent renewable raw materials (pursuant to EU Directive 2018/2001)”, Eni said in a statement at the time.
“The agreement involves the application of Eni's proprietary Ecofining technology for both the development of new biorefineries and the conversion of traditional refineries, combining Eni's extensive technological and operational experience with Saipem's distinctive expertise in the design and construction of this type of plants”, Eni added.
Saipem had provided support for the building of Eni’s biorefineries in the Italian cities of Gela and Venice, which produce HVOlution. Eni says it is the first company in the world to convert two traditional refineries into biofuel plants through the two Italian projects.
Eni has set a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
