Eni to spend EUR21 billion through 2021 to pursue low-carbon focus

Italy’s Eni will spend EUR21 billion (USD24.70 billion) in the next four years to breathe new life into existing assets with a low-carbon focus.

Early this week, Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, accompanied by Eni Chairman Emma Marcegaglia and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, visited Eni’s biorefinery in Venice, the world’s first example of the conversion of a traditional refinery into a refinery focused on the production of innovative biofuels.

During the visit, Eni’s top management highlighted how the conversion to a biorefinery, completed at the facility in Venice and underway at the plant in Gela, is a crucial element in the low-carbon transformation process that Eni is adopting for its activities.

Total production of green diesel will reach 1 million tonnes per year in 2020, with an overall investment of some EUR500 million (USD588 million). The conversion of the Venice refinery, undertaken also to re-launch the business against a background of crisis for the sector, is one of the pillars of Eni’s commitment for Italy.

Over the last three years Eni has spent EUR15 billion (USD17.64 billion) in Italy, and over the coming four years has planned for further spending totalling some EUR21 billion (USD24.70 billion), of which EUR4 billion (USD4.7 billion) will be spent for industrial conversions, as a way to driving a process of profound transformation that will affect all sectors of the business, not only refining, but also the upstream sector and chemicals, power generation and site remediation. The aim is to breathe new life into existing assets with a low-carbon focus and to encourage a more efficient use of energy, without reducing employment.

In particular, for the conversion of its refineries, Eni has been able to leverage a unique proprietary technology, called Ecofining, for the production of high-quality biofuels. This lead to the creation of green diesel, which can be added, without limit, to traditional diesel, allowing a reduction in CO2 emissions of 7% and a reduction in particulate emissions of up to 40%, while also improving engine efficiency.

Eni’s transformation process has already produced significant results in terms of energy efficiency and the development of resources, enabling the company to be competitive and to continue to create long-term value, the company said.