Enilive begins SAF production at its Italian plant

Enilive has announced the commissioning of its first plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Gela biorefinery, in Sicily.
Production has started at the plant, which has a capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year, representing almost a third of the expected European SAF demand in 2025, following the implementation of the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation.
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 feedstocks.
Enilive aims to increase its biorefining capacity to over 5 million tonnes per year by 2030 and enhance its optionality for SAF production to 1 million tonnes per 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 Gela biorefinery has the capacity to process 736,000 tonnes of biomass per year, which is primarily derived from waste and residual feedstocks such as used cooking oils, animal fat and by-products from vegetable oil processing. The innovative SAF production in Gela has been made possible by plant modifications.
“The plants and technologies that we are developing position Enilive as a leader in the production of HVO biofuels and confirms the company’s strategy, distinguished by a strong growth in offering increasingly sustainable products,” said Stefano Ballista, Enilive’s chief executive officer. "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. By 2026, the SAF plant in Porto Marghera, in the Venice biorefinery, will also be operational, and by 2030 other plants will be commissioned in Italy and abroad.”