The Italian energy group Eni has signed a €500m (US$586m) financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the conversion of its Livorno refinery in Tuscany (Italy) into a biorefinery.
The project involves the construction of new facilities to produce hydrogenated biofuels at the Livorno site, including a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment unit and a plant with a production capacity of 500,000 t/year of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). The future biorefinery will be capable of processing various biogenic feedstocks—mainly plant-based waste and residues—to produce HVO diesel, HVO naphtha, and bio-LPG. A key feature of the project, in addition to the use of advanced technologies, is the flexibility of the plant layout, which could be adapted in the future to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The Livorno refinery, operational since 1936, has a refining capacity of 105,000 bbl/d and primarily produces lubricant bases, fuel oil, gasoline, and specialty products. The project also contributes to meeting Italy’s national targets for pure biofuel production, which under current legislation are set to increase gradually from 300,000 t/year in 2023 to 1 Mt/year by 2030.
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