Eni Says Its Biodiesel Successfully Tested on Cruise Ship

Eni SpA announced Wednesday that tests it had conducted with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA showed that its Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) biofuel can power maritime transport without requiring engine upgrades.

"During the tests, one of the engines of the cruise ship MSC Opera was powered for approximately 2,000 hours with pure HVO, without any engine modifications, while performance and emissions data were recorded", the Italian state-backed energy major said in a press release.

"This test demonstrated that HVO is an immediately applicable solution even for marine engines and without the need for technological upgrades, while ensuring performance in line with traditional marine fossil fuels.

"The test also recorded lower emissions of both NOx (-16 percent) and particulate, as well as a significant reduction in GHG emissions inherent to the origin of the HVO product of around -80 percent compared to the use of traditional fuel; the reduction is due to the usage of 100 percent biogenic feedstocks in the HVO production process.

"Technical data on engine performance and associated emissions were collected and assessed with the support of Wärtsilä, the engine manufacturer, and Bureau Veritas, which acted as an independent certifier to validate the experimental results".

Eni, through its biofuels arm Enilive, produces HVO diesel at its biorefineries in the Italian cities of Gela and Venice, mainly using waste feedstock such as cooking oils, animal fats and residues from the agri-food sector, according to Eni.

"For several months now, Enilive's marine HVO diesel has been available at the ports of Genoa, Ravenna and Venice for direct delivery from the terminal to vessels via barge", said Enilive chief executive Stefano Ballista.

"The use of this fuel represents a viable solution for the decarbonization of maritime transport, contributing to compliance with the obligations set by the FuelEU Maritime regulation and reducing the emission-related costs".

MSC Cruises chief energy transition officer Michele Francioni commented, "We are very pleased to have satisfactorily confirmed the technical feasibility of 100 percent HVO on our cruise ship as part of our continuous decarbonization efforts".

"We believe HVO may play an important role in the decarbonization of shipping and together with other immediately available fuels such as LNG and bio-LNG, constitutes an immediate opportunity that could be deployed on board cruise ships to accelerate the transition towards renewable fuels, bringing us a step closer to our ultimate goal of reaching net zero GHG emissions by 2050", Francioni added.

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