Eni Enters Deal on Powering Maritime Transport with Biofuels

Eni SPA said Monday it has entered an agreement with an Italian engineering solutions company seeking to expand its biofuels market in the maritime transport sector.

Targeting shipping and logistics operators, the partnership with RINA SPA provides for the development of “initiatives that can contribute to the energy transition and decarbonization of their [Eni and RINA] respective operations and particularly maritime transport, where RINA and Eni can benefit from each other's expertise”, the Italian global energy giant said in a press release.

The deal focuses on the deployment of hydrogenated vegetable oil biofuel produced from Eni’s biorefineries in the Italian cities of Gela and Venice. The partnership also seeks to help fuel the naval sector with blue or green hydrogen and ammonia from biogenic, renewable or waste materials.

“Moreover, the partnership encompasses the development of initiatives for the logistics and value chain of new energy carriers, and the adoption of certified methods for the ‘taxonometric’ calculation of the emissions benefits they will generate”, the announcement said.

The two will also consider conducting experiments on the onboard capture of carbon dioxide emissions in the naval sector.

“Cooperation between companies is the way forward towards the common goal of decarbonizing industry and transport”, RINA chair and chief executive Ugo Salerno said in the announcement.

“Our collaboration will begin by focusing on the maritime sector, a diversified and hard-to-abate industry that can draw on initiatives already adopted by other industrial segments to decarbonize operations”, he added.

Giuseppe Ricci, Eni chief operating officer for energy evolution, said: “Thanks to this agreement, we will have the opportunity to study and develop them in the short, medium and long term, with the objective of making maritime transport more sustainable and meeting the needs of shipowners and logistics operators”.

Eni this month unveiled various partnerships on biofuels and cleaner energy as part of its emissions reduction strategy, including with the governments of Guinea-Bissau and Vietnam.

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