Eni recently has made an announcement of a further significant strategic investment when it comes to biorefining. Apart from the Priolo project, the final investment decision – FID has also received the approval for a plan by Eni to convert particular units pertaining to the Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi refinery in Pavia, Lombardy, into a biorefinery.
It is well to be noted that both these projects happen to represent a major step forward when it comes to developing the biofuel production capacity of Enilive.
Both the biorefineries are forecasted to be completed by 2028 and are going to provide maximum flexibility when it comes to producing both HVO diesel – Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil as well as SAF-biojet, Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Apparently, the new biorefinery in Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi is not going to affect the existing traditional fuels production capacity of the plant. Rather, it is going to bring to the fore more biofuel production coming from renewable raw materials, thereby further helping to diversify the range of products that are available to the market.
Notably, the project happens to involve the conversion of the Hydrocracker – HDC2 unit by using Ecofining™ technology and the construction of a pretreatment unit in terms of waste and residues, which apparently happen to be the main feedstocks that are used by Enilive in order to produce HVO biofuels. The hydrogen that is needed is going to be supplied by the present plants, whereas supporting infrastructure, which includes the likes of logistics as well as connections to airports in Lombardy, is going to be adapted for the new setup in terms of production.
Apparently, the new biorefinery in Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi will boast of the capacity to produce 550,000 tonnes per year of feedstock. It will also have the flexibility to produce SAF-biojet in addition to HVO diesel.
The Priolo biorefinery, for which the preparatory activities are currently ahead of the award pertaining to procurement and construction contracts when it comes to new units, is going to have a capacity of around 500,000 tonnes per year and is also going to have operational flexibility that’s pretty extensive for HVO diesel or SAF-biojet production, which is
in line with the dynamics and demand that exist in the market. The Priolo biorefinery happens to be a part of the basic chemicals transformation plan by Versalis and is going to be built within the present site, thereby replacing the cracking plant, which ended its operations in 2025 and which is, as a matter of fact, at present getting dismantled.
Because of Enilive, Eni happens to be the second largest producer when it comes to hydrogenated biofuels HVO – both diesel as well as biojet – SAF across Europe and plans to raise its biorefining capacity from 1.65 million tonnes per year, which currently exists, to more than 3 million in 2028 and beyond 5 million by 2030, with the potential to go ahead and produce around 2 million tonnes of SAF by the end of the decade.
