Biofuels company Vireol is set to break ground in July on Britain's third major refinery making bioethanol from feed wheat and further expansion could be on the cards, the company's chief executive Dave Knibbs said.
"I think you could see some more plants here...We are the most efficient place to produce feed wheat in Europe, our yields are better than anyone else's and there is room for more growth (in yields)," he told Reuters in an interview.
Vireol's refinery, at Grimsby in eastern England, will use 530,000 tonnes of grain, most likely feed wheat, to produce about 200m litres of bioethanol as well as protein rich by-product DDGS (dried distillers grains with solubles), which is used for animal feed.
"I do believe it is something the UK can excel at. We should be leading the charge in Europe, not bringing up the rear," Knibbs said.
Britain's bioethanol industry got off to a slow start and was limited until recently to a British Sugar refinery with a capacity to produce about 70m litres using sugar beet as its feedstock. It began operating in 2007.
Ensus is currently bringing into commercial production Britain's first wheat-based bioethanol refinery in Teesside in northeast England with capacity to produce about 400 to 450m litres from about 1.1m tonnes of wheat.
Vivergo Fuels is building a second major bioethanol refinery in Hull, eastern England, with a similar capacity to the Ensus plant. It is due to come on line either late this year or early in 2011.
Future Capital Partners is in the final stages of completing the financing of the Vireol plant, which already has a 10-year agreement to sell all its bioethanol to a major investment bank. Knibbs said confidentiality clauses meant he could not name the investment bank.
Vireol also has an agreement with UK merchant Gleadell to supply wheat to the refinery. Gleadell is a joint venture of ADM controlled Toepfer and French co-op Union Invivo.
Knibbs said the refinery should come on line in 2013, coinciding with the UK's target date for obtaining 5% of its motor fuels from renewable sources.
Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6223KM20100303