“The project, first announced in October 2022 and followed by an application for Environmental Impact Assessment in November 2022, is awaiting official authorizations and includes the construction of three new facilities for the production of hydrogenated biofuels: a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment unit; a 500,000 tonnes/year Ecofining plant; and a facility to produce hydrogen from methane gas”, the Italian state-controlled energy major said in a recent news release. Ecofining is a trademarked technology developed by Eni and Honeywell UOP to transform biogenic raw materials into biofuels.
Eni has set a goal of raising its biorefining capacity from the current 1.65 million tons per annum (MMtpa) to over 5.0 MMtpa as part of efforts to become a carbon-neutral company by 2050.
The proposed project wants to transform the Livorno industrial site in Tuscany region on the Italian northeastern coast.
Its two biorefineries in operation in Italy had been converted from fossil fuel refineries. The Porto Marghera biorefinery in the northern coastal city of Venice started production June 2014 as the world’s first project to successfully transform a traditional refinery into a biorefinery according to Eni. Its processing capacity has been raised from an initial 360,000 MMtpa to 400,000 MMtpa, according to information from Eni’s website.
The other refinery, which faces the Mediterranean Sea in the Sicilian city of Gela, opened August 2019 with a 750,000-MMtpa processing capacity according to Eni.
Eni said it has now started shutting down the traditional Livorno refinery. “Fuel distribution in the area will be guaranteed through the import of finished and semi-finished products”, it said.
“Preparatory work for the construction of the three new bio-refining plants is underway, with construction to commence following regulatory approval”, Eni said, adding it is expecting startup 2026.
The project had support from local leaders according to Eni’s announcement of intention October 2022. Tuscany President Eugenio Giani was quoted as saying by Eni at the time, “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”.
Livorno Mayor Luca Salvetti said the project “combines industrial goals, environmental compatibility and stability of employment”, as quoted by Eni.
The Livorno biorefinery is planned to process various biogenic feedstocks mainly vegetable waste and residue to produce hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), HVO naphtha and bio-liquefied petroleum gas.
Eni has trademarked an HVO biodiesel called HVOlution. HVOlution can deliver emission reductions of up to 90 percent relative to the benchmark European Union fossil fuel blend according to Eni.
Eni produces biofuels through its sustainable mobility brand Enilive, which it says is the second-biggest producer of hydrogenated biofuels HVO in Europe and the third in the globe.
“Eni’s growth strategy is driven by the increasing demand in Europe and Italy for biofuels in the mobility sector, both to meet the emission reduction targets set out in the recently approved RED III (Renewable Energy Directive) and to comply with Italian legislation requiring the introduction of pure biofuels”, Eni said in the announcement for the Livorno project. “Forecasts predict a 65 percent increase in demand for hydrogenated biofuels globally between 2024 and 2028”.
The European Council adopted October a binding target for the share of renewables in the European Union energy mix to be 42.5 percent by 2030, up from 32 percent.
Meanwhile Italy in November 2014 became the first EU state to require the blending of biofuels with diesel and gasoline according to the European Technology and Innovation Platform, an EU-funded planning support initiative.
The Livorno project is the second planned biorefinery Eni confirmed this year. Earlier it announced a joint venture agreement with LG Chem Ltd. for a planned biorefinery in South Korea, toward a final investment decision expected later in 2024. The project is planned to rise in the town of Daesan on the west coast of South Korea, within local company LG Chem’s 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, HVO and sustainable aviation fuel.
Last November Eni announced the signing of a pact 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.
Saipem had provided support for the building of the Gela and Venice biorefineries according to Eni.
