Eni boosts European SAF supply with production launch at Gela plant

Enilive, the biorefining arm of Italian energy group Eni, has launched production of sustainable aviation fuel at its Gela refinery in Sicily that will account for almost a third of European supply in 2025, the company said Jan. 22.

Current capacity is 400,000 mt/year, equivalent to almost one third of Europe's demand, the company said in a statement. Enilive aims to increase its biorefining capacity to over 5 million mt/year by 2030 and enhance its optionality for SAF production to 1 million mt/year by 2026, with further potential to double production by 2030.

These targets will be supported by ongoing projects at the Venice biorefinery and the construction of new biorefineries in Malaysia and South Korea, the company said.

"Eni started investing in this field over a decade ago and Enilive will be among the first companies in the world to produce significant quantities of SAF," Stefano Ballista, Enilive CEO, said in the statement.

The Gela biorefinery has the capacity to process 736,000 mt/year of biomass, which is primarily derived from waste and residual feedstocks such as used cooking oils, animal fat and by-products from vegetable oil processing. The SAF production at Gela has been made possible by plant modifications, in particular to the isomerization unit, which has been equipped with a reactor and a product separation section, as well as upgrades to the tank farm and logistics infrastructure.

Since September 2022, Enilive has signed agreements with several airlines for the supply of SAF, thanks to the initial production achieved through synergies between the Gela Enilive biorefinery and other Eni facilities, using waste-based feeds.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed SAF on a CIF basis in Northwest Europe at $2,039/mt Jan. 21, 162% costlier than jet CIF NWE cargoes.

European supply of SAF will be 1.623 million mt in 2025, analysts at Commodity Insights said in their most recent Biofuels Supply and Demand Outlook.

Global SAF demand is expected to grow by almost 80,000 b/d between 2024-26, with consumption concentrated in Europe and the US, Commodity Insights analysts said separately Jan. 9.

Under the EU's ReFuel initiative, SAF must make up at least 2% of aviation fuel in the region by 2025, rising to 6% by 2035 and 70% by 2050. Synthetic fuels, namely eSAF, should constitute a progressively increasing proportion of the fuel mix -- 1.2% by 2030 and 35% by 2050.

This comes amid concerns about the SAF being sold. Not all SAFs are equally sustainable, lobby group Transport & Environment said Dec. 3. The most sustainable and scalable type of SAF is eSAF from renewable electricity. In contrast, SAF derived from biomass (biofuels) varies greatly in sustainability and scalability.

There have been some economic headwinds to the sector. Backed by bumper profits in 2022-23, companies had the capital to fund numerous multibillion-dollar renewables investments, while many projects have yet to pass the proposal phase. However, as Europe braces for a refining downcycle, only the most competitive producers will survive, and low-carbon investments are facing new scrutiny.