Italy's Eni and LG Chem team up for biorefinery in South Korea (updated)

LG Chem

14/09/2023 10:59

(Adds context in paragraphs 2-3, details throughout)
       MILAN, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The sustainable mobility unit
of Italy's Eni  ENI.MI  and petrochemicals maker LG Chem
 051910.KS  have teamed up to explore the potential development
of a biorefinery in South Korea, the two companies said in a
statement on Thursday.
    Eni believes biofuels made from vegetable oil, waste cooking
oil and grease will play a key role in decarbonising the truck,
aviation and shipping sectors in the next few years.
    The Italian group, which already operates two biorefineries
at home, recently said it also wanted to develop plants in Asia
and the United States.
    The new project, which is designed to process around 400,000
tonnes of bio-feedstocks per year, aims to meet growing demand
for both sustainable fuels and plastics produced through
low-carbon processes.
    It  will  have  the  flexibility  to  process  renewable 
bio-feedstocks and produce multiple products including
sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrotreated vegetable oil
(HVO), and bio-naphtha.
    A final decision for the investment is scheduled to be made
by next year and the plant is set to be completed by 2026 at LG
Chem's existing integrated petrochemical complex in Daesan,
southwest Seoul.
    Eni will provide the South Korean biorefinery with
sustainable feedstock mainly sourced from waste and residue from
 the processing of vegetable oils, used cooking oil, and also 
vegetable oils from drought-resistant crops.  
    The Italian group recently signed several agreements with
African and Asian countries to develop farming ventures able to
produce these crops in degraded, semi-arid or abandoned soils
not used for food production.

 (Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Francesca Landini, editing
by Gianluca Semeraro and Miral Fahmy)
 ((Federico.maccioni@thomsonreuters.com; +39 3420768883;))