One of the UK’s largest bioethanol plants, Ensus at Wilton on Teesside, has this week started operating again following a shutdown and change of ownership in the summer.
CropEnergies, the new German owners, produce 1.2 million cubic meters of bioethanol per year from modern and highly efficient production facilities in Germany, Belgium, the UK, and France.
CropEnergies is also an important producer of food and animal feed products on the Continent.
When they took over the Ensus plant the company promised it would reopen the refinery after the completion of essential maintenance work and also when market conditions improved.
There is no indication as to how much grain it was taking in, but when the plant was constructed it was estimated it could consume one million tonnes of wheat annually.
The plant produces bioethanol used for greener road fuel, together with high-protein animal feed and carbon dioxide for the food and drinks industries.