Eni and Benin sign agreement on bio-refining initiatives

Eni and the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Republic of Benin have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop initiatives on the agro-industrial chain for biorefining use, the Italian energy major said on Tuesday.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two sides will evaluate potential opportunities in Benin in the field of agriculture and vegetable raw materials to develop oil crops for Eni’s biorefining system. The cooperation agreement focuses on the low Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) crops identified in areas subject to natural and anthropic degradation, thus valorising marginal lands while not competing with the food chain, Eni said.

The agreement will allow the Italian energy giant to develop new industrial models in the country, ensuring the sustainability along the whole agro-feedstock supply chain. It will play a key role in the energy transition for both Eni and the Republic of Benin, which is taking the lead on it in the region and is already a net negative CO2 issuer. It will also benefit the job market and the economic sector, capitalising on the competitiveness of a local industry with a solid agricultural vocation.

The agreement opens up a new area of activity for Eni in Benin and follows six agreements signed in recent months to support the decarbonisation process and promote circular economy initiatives in African countries, by leveraging the role that agro-feedstock can play in its path to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.