Enilive, the Saf production plant in Gela

Enilive announces the start of first plant dedicated to the production of Saf (Sustainable Aviation Fuel, sustainable aviation fuel) in the Gela biorefinery, Sicily. Production started in recent days and the plant has a capacity of 400 thousand tons/year, equal to almost one third of the expected demand for SAF in Europe in 2025* following the entry into force of ReFuelEU Aviation. Regulation (EU) 2023/2405 establishes, in fact, that aviation fuel suppliers guarantee that the jet fuel made available to aircraft operators at every airport in the European Union contains Saf quotas.

The placing on the market of Saf will have to take place in increasing quantities according to the following trajectory: 2% minimum from 1 January 2025 and an increase in the share every five years (6% from 2030, 20% from 2035, 34% from 2040, 42% from 2045) until reaching 70% from 2050. Enilive has entered into agreements with various airlines for the supply of Saf since September 2022, thanks to the first productions carried out in synergy between the Enilive biorefinery in Gela and other Eni plants starting from waste raw materials.

By 2030 Enilive plans to aincrease its biorefining capacity to over 5 million tons/year and to increase the optionality of Saf production up to 1 million tonnes/year by 2026, with a potential doubling by 2030, also thanks to the new projects underway in the Venice biorefinery and the construction of new biorefineries in Malaysia and South Korea. The Gela biorefinery has a processing capacity of 736 thousand tonnes/year of biomass, mainly from waste raw materials and waste such as used edible oils, fats animals, by-products of the processing of vegetable oils.

The innovative production of Saf in Gela was made possible thanks to plant modifications, in particular of the isomerization unit to which a reactor and a product separation section were added, and of the tank park and logistics structures. Investments for the strengthening of the feed pre-treatment section will also be completed shortly with the construction of a third degumming line, which will allow us to further expand the typology of waste and residue raw materials to be transformed into HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, hydrotreated vegetable oil).