Or , our new artificial intelligence tool.
At Porto Marghera, Venice, we transformed a conventional refinery into our first biorefinery using technologies developed by our research centres. Today, the site is at the core of an industrial transformation plan involving Enilive, Versalis, Eni Rewind and Plenitude. The project began in 2022 with the shutdown of the cracking plants used to convert heavy hydrocarbons into lighter, higher-value products, and involves total investments of more than €900 million. Planned activities include Versalis circular chemistry projects, the expansion of the Enilive biorefinery, the development of a hub for hydrogen production and use in public transport, and photovoltaic generation in reclaimed areas. Completed, ongoing and planned initiatives are aimed at ensuring industrial continuity and safeguarding employment in the area.
Eni has updated its business plan for the Venice site with investments of more than €900 million and new initiatives supporting the energy transition (only Italian version).
Thanks to the biorefinery’s capacity of around 0.4 million tonnes per year, we can convert biofeedstocks into biofuels using Eni technology.
We carry out environmental restoration and remediation activities across various affected areas.
By implementing various technologies, we are developing a circular economy model through plastic recycling projects.
We repurpose decommissioned areas to unlock production potential by installing photovoltaic plants.
We use hydrogen as feedstock and in 2022 we opened our first service station in Venice Mestre that supplies hydrogen for mobility.
Region: Veneto
Activity start date: 2014 - present
Bioenergy
Biorefining
Chemistry
Energy from renewables
Environmental remediationThe bio-refinery in Venice produces quality biofuel (HVO - Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) from raw biogenic materials. At the time of its opening in 2014, it was the world's first example of fully converting a traditional refinery into a biorefinery. The process is based on our proprietary EcofiningTM technology. The biorefinery is mainly (about 85%) fuelled by waste raw materials, such as waste cooking oil, animal fats and residues from the agro-food industry for the production of biofuels, HVO diesel, bio-LPG, biojet and bio-naphtha for the chemical chain. The current plan includes the expansion of the Ecofining plant, increasing processing capacity from 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes per year. The upgrade will also broaden the product range, particularly SAF biojet fuel (sustainable aviation fuel), and Arctic HVO diesel, designed to maintain high performance at temperatures down to -30°C.
Vegetable oil production in the Makueni agri-hub in Kenya
Castor bean plantation in Kenya
The former petrochemical plant in Gela is considered a Site of National Priority, i.e., an area requiring special remediation work as a result of operations carried out over decades by several companies. The environmental reclamation of the site is the responsibility of Eni Rewind, Eni's environmental company. The first activities began in the 1990s with the securing of decommissioned plants and the systematic soil and water testing campaign. Subsequently, the actual reclamation activity began, which has already been completed for some areas, while for the remainder it is in progress. As part of the Porto Marghera redevelopment plan, Eni Rewind presented a project for the drying and energy exploitation of residues from civil sewage (sewage sludge) using the most advanced currently available technologies.
The industrial transformation of Porto Marghera also involves Versalis, through the centre for the advanced mechanical recycling of post-consumer plastics, dedicated to styrenic polymers and polyolefins. Versalis has completed the first phase of the project, with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year. The plant's four lines will be up and running by May 2026, and production also relies on the collaboration of supply chain partners in the Venetian area for the procurement of secondary raw materials.
The second phase is currently under development. The plant configuration has been optimised, the basic engineering phase has been completed, and the feasibility study will lay out the next steps. The products obtained contain between 35% and 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and are intended mainly for the packaging and construction sectors. The plan also includes the expansion of the logistics hub, a key element for the distribution of feedstocks to the Versalis plants in Mantua and Ferrara and to customers across different markets. New loading arms for ethylene and propylene have already been installed, while works on the docks and preliminary activities for the new ethylene cryogenic storage tank are currently underway.
At Porto Marghera, through Plenitude, we have built photovoltaic plants in two Eni Rewind areas. The plants are already operational and are located in Area 12, the former Ausidet site and Area 15, within the areas of the Nuovo Petrolchimico. Total installed capacity amounts to 6.2 MW. The project redevelops reclaimed industrial areas while integrating renewable energy generation into the site’s industrial transformation.
A hub dedicated to the production and use of renewable hydrogen for public transport is also under development in Porto Marghera. The site includes an 8 MW production plant currently under construction, together with an Enilive refuelling station for the hydrogen buses operated by the AVM public transport company. The plant is being developed by Green Hydrogen Venezia, a joint venture between Eni and Magis. The hydrogen produced will be supplied via pipeline to the new Enilive distribution station. At the Venice site, hydrogen also plays an industrial role: it is used as feedstock in the biorefinery for the production of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oils) biofuels. Supporting the production cycle, a new Steam Reforming plant is also nearing completion, consisting of two 15,000 Nm³/h lines. The initiative complements the Enilive station in Venice Mestre, inaugurated in June 2022 as Italy’s first urban, publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling station for road mobility. The facility is equipped with two dispensers and can refuel both cars and buses.
Download document
