The Decree for the integrated VIA / AIA authorization for the Gela green refinery has been signed. The release of the authorization marks a turning point for the completion of the project and allows a strong growth of the local supply.
With the release of the VIA / AIA license from the Ministry of the Environment for the Protection of the Sea and Territory and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Eni starts work on completing the Green Refinery of Gela, which will be completed by June 2018.
The signing of the Decree is a key element in completing the green refining process and represents a further step forward in the implementation of the activities envisaged in the 2014 End Protocol.
The first phase of Gela's refinery conversion project, which included the upgrading of existing refinery plants, was launched in April 2016. The construction of the new Steam Reforming Hydrogen Plant, for which all the preliminary activities have been carried out, represents the "turning point" to start production by June 2018 and allow within 2019, with the completion of the According to the new biomass pretreatment plant, the use of second-generation raw materials made up of waste from food production, however, it will still be possible to work in small percentages even in the first phase.
That of Gela will be one of the few refineries in the world with high operational flexibility, able to handle even 100% of advanced and unconventional charges. Future raw materials will derive from food production waste, such as used oils (UCO - used cookingoil), animal fats (tallow) and by-products related to palm oil processing (PFAD - fatty acids). This feature will make Gela a highly environmentally sustainable plant due to the use of charges that would otherwise be disposed of as waste, with increased costs for the community and impact on the environment. Furthermore, the Green Refinery, in line with the latest EU legislation, will reduce GHG emissions by 60%.
Eni confirms that Gela's activities from a technical and operational point of view continue in line with the commitments entered into in the Protocol and that since the signing of the Agreement at the end of June, 2017 has been invested in the total area of 535 millions of euros.
With regard to employment, 2016 1.400 workers have been employed on average by 1.200, compared to the 18 predicted in the Protocol, confirming the increase in the 2015% already recorded in the 2017. Also in the first semester 1.450 data show that the occupancy level of the inductor exceeded 1.000 resources on average, compared to the 1.600 predicted in the Protocol, with a record peak of about XNUMX people last June which includes workers engaged in the refinery, Both for reconversion and for operational activities, upstream and environmental remediation activities.
From the signing of the Protocol until the end of the 1 ° 2017 semester, 158 91 shipyards have been started.
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