Eni has announced its plans to convert the Livorno refinery into a bio-refinery, making it Italy’s third bio-refinery.

The project includes the construction of three new facilities to produce hydrogenated biofuels: a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment unit, a 500,000-ton per year Ecofining™ plant, and a facility to produce hydrogen from methane gas.

This decision was first announced in October 2022, followed by an application for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in November 2022.

Preparatory work for the construction of the three new bio-refining plants is underway, with construction to commence following regulatory approval. Completion and commissioning are expected by 2026, Eni stated in a press release.

Accordingly, Eni has stopped importing crude oil and has initiated the shutdown of the lubricant production lines and topping plant. However, fuel distribution in the area will continue through the import of finished and semi-finished products.

The three new plants will process various biogenic feedstocks, such as vegetable waste and residue, to produce HVO diesel, HVO naphtha, and bio-LPG. Eni, through Enilive, is the second-largest producer of hydrogenated biofuels (HVO) in Europe and the third-largest in the world.

Notably, the project is part of Eni’s decarbonization strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and increase bio-refining capacity from the current 1.65 million tons per year (mtpa) to over 5 mtpa by 2030.

The company noted that its 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. Forecasts predict a 65% increase in demand for hydrogenated biofuels globally between 2024 and