Eni, through Eni Sustainable Mobility, has formed a joint venture with PBF Energy, called St. Bernard Renewables (SBR). The 50-50 JV has been formed for the biorefinery currently under construction, located with PBF’s Chalmette refinery in Louisiana (USA).
Upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, Eni Sustainable Mobility will contribute capital totaling $835 million plus up to an additional $50 million subject to the achievement of eventual project milestones and will provide experience in biorefining. operations, supply and marketing.
PBF brings its strong industrial knowledge to the United States and, as a biorefinery partner, will continue to manage the project’s execution and act as operator after construction is complete.
The commissioning of the biorefinery of St. Bernard Renewables is scheduled for the first half of 2023 and the facility is currently expected to have a processing capacity of approximately 1.1 million tonnes/year of feedstock, with full pre-treatment capabilities. It will produce primarily HVO diesel (hydrotreated vegetable oil, commonly known as “renewable diesel” in North America), with a production capacity of 306 million gallons per year.
The biorefinery will use the Ecofining process developed by Eni in cooperation with Honeywell UOP.
SBR will operate as an independent entity with feed procurement and product distribution managed by a dedicated team working on behalf of the joint venture St. Bernard Renewables. While the partnership will benefit from its co-location with PBF’s Chalmette refinery through a variety of shared services, the operations and ownership of the Chalmette refinery will not be affected by the partnership’s formation.
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