In a significant move aimed at advancing renewable energy initiatives, Eni SpA has officially entered into an agreement with Côte d’Ivoire’s Agriculture Ministry to explore the potential for cultivating biofuel crops in the West African country.
The development was revealed in a statement from the Italian state-backed energy major, which hopes to strengthen its rubber (hevea) supply chain through the deal.
“The agreement further aims to evaluate the strategic introduction of oilseed crops on marginal and degraded lands, thereby contributing significantly to the nation’s sustainable agricultural development while explicitly avoiding competition with food production and existing forest ecosystems,” Eni stated.
Eni says its ongoing project involving rubber farmers in the country is already “enabling the valorization of rubber residues into raw materials for biofuel production, generating economic and social benefits for thousands of farmers”.
Despite being in Ivory Coast since 2015, Eni took a bold step last year by expanding its core hydrocarbon operations.
The company is now making strategic pursuits for biorefining opportunities, which are being advanced through the newly formed entity, Eni Natural Energies Côte d’Ivoire.
The new entity is “dedicated to developing sustainable supply chains of agricultural raw materials for the company’s biorefineries”, Eni said.
The company’s initiative is consistent with an overarching strategy for sustainable mobility and commitment to fostering equitable and inclusive growth by the Ivorian government.
Eni has set an ambitious target to significantly increase this capacity to over 5 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) by 2030.
It targets to achieve 1 MTPA in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production by next year, with a potential goal to double that volume by the end of the decade.
Similarly, global production of SAF is also projected to double this year, reaching 2 million tonnes.
As of March this year, Enilive (Eni’s biofuel subsidiary) reported a global biorefining production capacity to be at 1.65 million MTPA.
To support these growth objectives, Eni announced an organizational restructuring for Enilive last year, which involved US investor KKR & Co. Inc., to inject new capital.
In the first quarter of 2025, the US investor (KKR & Co.) finalized the acquisition of a 25% stake in Enilive, a shareholding slated to increase to 30% upon the conclusion of a subsequent transaction.
In a related development, localities in Senegal recently granted 300 hectares of land to Swedish renewable energy company Jord AB for the development of a large-scale biofuel project.