Eni and the European Investment Bank (EIB) today signed a €500 million, 15‑year financing agreement to support the conversion of Eni’s Livorno petroleum refinery in Tuscany into a state-of-the-art biorefinery.
Project Highlights
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Scope: Construction of new facilities on the Livorno site, including a biogenic pre‑treatment unit and a 500,000‑tonnes‑per‑year Ecofining™ plant for hydrogenated biofuels production.
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Technology: Utilizing Eni’s proprietary Ecofining™ process—operated by its sustainable mobility division, Enilive—the plant will turn renewable feedstocks such as used cooking oil and agro‑food waste into HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), usable in approved engines without infrastructure changes.
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Output: The new facility will produce HVO diesel, HVO naphtha, and bio‑LPG. Future flexibility allows potential integration of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production to align with EU aviation decarbonisation goals.
Strategic Significance
This Livorno conversion marks Eni’s third major refinery transformation in Italy, following the conversions in Venice and Gela. The move reflects the company’s accelerating shift toward cleaner energy operations and its ambition to reach over 5 million tonnes of biorefinery capacity by 2030.
Words from Leadership
EIB Vice‑President Gelsomina Vigliotti commented:
“The EIB financing is key to delivering a project of high environmental, technological and strategic value … a concrete example of how industrial innovation can accelerate the path towards climate neutrality while generating sustainable value for regions.”
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi added:
“This agreement … confirms Eni’s concrete and high‑quality commitment in the transition towards increasingly decarbonized energy … this virtuous approach is now leading us to convert a third refinery into a biorefinery in Italy, following the examples of Venice and Gela.”
Aligning with EU & National Climate Goals
The project supports Italy’s goal of increasing pure biofuel production from 300,000 tonnes per year in 2023 to 1 million tonnes by 2030, under national legislation and the EU’s RED III directive.
Globally, demand for hydrogenated biofuels is projected to rise by 65% between 2024 and 2028, positioning Eni at the forefront of and responsive to this rapid market growth .
Support from EIB
As the European Union’s long‑term lending arm, the European Investment Bank backs projects that advance EU policy objectives such as innovation, sustainability, cohesion, and climate neutrality. EIB financing avoids fossil fuel investments and aims to support €1 trillion in climate and environmental sustainability by 2030 .
