Eni Considers the Possibility of Building a Third Bio-Refinery in Livorno

(Eni) Eni met with the president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, and the mayors of Livorno, Luca Salvetti, and Collesalvetti, Adelio Antolini, to confirm that the company is investigating the opportunity to build a new bio-refinery at Eni's industrial site in Livorno.

The feasibility study involves building three new plants for the production of hydrogenated biofuel: a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment unit, a 500,000 tonne/year Ecofining™ plant and a plant for the production of hydrogen from methane gas.

The construction of the new bio-refinery – located in an industrial area which houses fuel and lubricant production facilities – would maximise synergies from the infrastructure already available and secure the site's future as an employment and production hub.

Giuseppe Ricci, Chief Operating Officer of Eni’s Energy Evolution said: “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 bio-refinery back in 2014. The coexistence of bio and traditional plants has been successfully tested with the recent production of Eni Biojet in Livorno, the first SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) exclusively from waste raw materials, animal fats and used vegetable oils thanks to the synergy with Eni's bio-refinery 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.”

The president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, said: “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 modernisation of the port of Livorno with the Europa dock”.

Livorno mayor Luca Salvetti said: “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 bio-refinery, a project that combines industrial goals, environmental compatibility and stability of employment. 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”.

Collesalvetti mayor Adelio Antolini said: “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”.

Eni is the second-largest biofuel producer in Europe with 1.1 million tonnes/year and targets to increase the share to 2 million by 2025 and to 6 million in the next decade. Its bio-refineries 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 biofuel – biodiesel, but also bio-LPG and bio-Naphtha, also for use in the chemical industry.

From 2023, Eni will no longer process palm oil and will make available pure hydrogenated biofuel containing a 100%-biogenic component, which can reduce GHG (GreenHouse Gas) Well to Wheel by up to 90%, i.e. along the entire logistics and production chain, up to its final use.

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. READ MORE