With the release of the authorization by the Ministry of the Environment, Eni starts the works for the completion of the Green Refinery of Gela, which will be completed by June 2018. This was announced by the group in a note.
The construction of the new "Steam Reforming" hydrogen production plant, the group says, will make it possible to start production by June 2018. Furthermore, by 2019, with the completion of the second new biomass pre-treatment plant, it will also allow use of second generation raw materials made up of waste from food production.
The Gela one, underlines Eni, will be one of the few refineries in the world with high operational flexibility, able to process even 100% of advanced and unconventional feedstocks. Future raw materials will derive from waste from food production, such as used oils (UCO - used cooking oil), animal fats (tallow) and by-products associated with palm oil processing (PFAD - fatty acids). Furthermore, the Green Refinery, in line with the latest EU legislation, will reduce GHG emissions by 60%.
Eni confirms that the activities in Gela from a technical and operational point of view continue in line with the commitments undertaken in the protocol and that since the signing of the Agreement at the end of June 2017, a total of 535 million euros have been invested in the area. With regard to employment, an average of 2016 associated workers were employed in 1.400, compared to the 1.200 envisaged in the protocol, confirming the 18% increase already recorded in 2015.
Again in the first half of 2017, the data show that the level of employment in related industries exceeded the average of 1.450 resources, compared to the 1.000 envisaged in the protocol, with a record peak of around 1.600 people last June, which includes workers employed in the refinery , both for reconversion and for operational activities, in upstream and in environmental remediation activities. From the signing of the Protocol until the end of the first half of 2017, the note concludes, 158 construction sites will have been started, 91 of which have been completed.
