<article><p class="lead">The Italian government will evaluate several proposals to increase production of renewable fuels to accelerate energy transition, as part of its recovery plan for which the country will receive €209bn ($257bn) from the EU.</p><p>The projects include conversion of integrated Eni's 84,000 b/d Livorno refinery into a biorefinery for hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) production and construction of a waste-to-methanol plant (WtM) nearby. The conversion would be completed by the third quarter of 2024, and the WtM plant should be operational by the end of that year.</p><p>Eni confirmed its willingness "to carry out the appropriate assessments for the start of the conversion of the Livorno refinery into a biorefinery," but said it is too early to elaborate. The firm previously said that it could <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2154451">speed up domestic refinery conversions</a> to build new HVO plants, and has said it targeted 5mn t/yr of HVO production capacity by 2050. Eni has already converted refineries at Gela and Venice, into respective 650,000 t/yr and 350,000 t/yr biorefineries.</p><p>Other projects include the scaling-up of biojet production at Gela, the creation of four plants to produce bio-oils and biomethane using up to 600,000 t/yr of organic waste, the strengthening of petrochemical firm Versalis' Crescentino plant to produce ethanol and bioethanol and the creation of a plant to produce renewable plastics. All projects are subject to government approval.</p><p>Increasing production of renewable fuels would align with higher biofuels blending targets for 2021 and the coming years. The Italian government has set a 10pc target for biofuels in the road transport fuel mix this year, up from 9pc in 2020. The country also targets a 2pc share of advanced biofuels — produced from feedstocks listed in annex IX part A of the recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) — in 2021, increasing to 2.5pc in 2022 and 3pc in 2023.</p><p class="bylines">By Giulia Squadrin</p></article>
