The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Eni have signed a €500 million ($580 million), 15-year loan to convert part of Eni’s Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi refinery in Pavia, Italy, into a biorefinery.
The agreement, signed by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, supports the company’s transition to sustainable fuels.
The project focuses on converting the refinery’s Hydrocracker (HDC2) unit using Eni’s proprietary Ecofining technology and building a pre-treatment plant for renewable feedstocks, including used cooking oils, animal fats, and agri-food industry waste.
These feedstocks are utilised by Enilive, Eni’s biofuel subsidiary, to produce hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuels for sustainable mobility.
HVO biofuels, produced using Ecofining technology, meet EU Renewable Energy Directive standards and can be used in approved engines.
They are already available at more than 1,600 Enilive service stations across Europe.
From 2028, the Sannazzaro biorefinery will produce both HVO diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with an annual production capacity of around 550,000 tonnes.
By leveraging existing refinery infrastructure, the project will complement conventional fuel production while reducing transport emissions and contributing to decarbonisation in the aviation sector, where SAF is currently the only viable solution.
The initiative also strengthens Italian and EU energy security and supports the objectives of REPowerEU by expanding European biofuel production capacity.
This project follows a €500 million financing agreement in July 2025 to convert Eni’s Livorno refinery into a biorefinery and aligns with Enilive’s strategic plan to increase biofuel production to 5 million tonnes by 2030, including over 2 million tonnes of SAF.
Current Enilive production facilities include biorefineries in Venice, Gela, and a 50% stake in St Bernard Renewables in Louisiana, US.
By 2026, Livorno will be joined by additional biorefineries under construction in Malaysia and South Korea, while a fourth Italian biorefinery in Priolo, Sicily, will be developed with Q8 by 2028.
Rising demand for SAF, driven by the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, ensures the initiative’s long-term technical and economic viability.
HVO biofuels provide immediate emissions reductions across transport sectors, including aviation, road, maritime, and rail.
The Sannazzaro conversion aligns with Eni and Enilive’s strategy to expand biofuel capacity in Europe and Italy, meeting RED III targets and Italian regulations on pure biofuel marketing.
Global biofuel consumption in transport reached 4% in 2024 and is projected to rise to 9% by 2035 and 12% by 2050 according to the IEA Net Zero scenario.
“This financing represents strategic support for a project with high environmental and industrial value, contributing to the decarbonisation of the transport sector, particularly aviation. Through this initiative, the EIB aims to strengthen Europe’s capacity to produce advanced fuels and to promote the circular and sustainable use of resources,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said, “This new agreement with the EIB demonstrates the effectiveness and robustness of the strategy we pursue through our businesses related to the energy transition. To deliver a tangible transition towards energy solutions that have an increasingly low environmental impact, it is essential to create businesses that can grow and generate value. We achieve this by combining technology and the ability to deliver industrial-scale projects on the one hand, with a broad and growing customer base on the other. We see biorefining and biofuels as a fundamental component to support the progressive decarbonisation of transport – applicable across all segments of the sector, and already well aligned with existing demand. We are the second largest producer of biofuels in Europe and are working on three refinery conversions in Italy. This follows the completion of two others in Venice and Gela, which are already making a major contribution towards a more environmentally sustainable supply for the transport sector.” -OGN/TradeArabia News Service
