The Vivergo bioethanol plant, a joint venture between BP (London, U.K.; www.bp.com), DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) and AB Sugar, was officially opened in Hull. The new £350 million plant is the U.K.’s biggest bioethanol producer and largest single-source supplier of animal feed, providing valuable commodities that the U.K. would usually import. It will produce 420 million liters of bioethanol per year at full capacity, equivalent to a third of the U.K.’s current demand. Vivergo’s bioethanol will offer greenhouse gas savings in excess of 50% over standard fuels.
Vivergo will also produce 500,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of protein-rich animal feed for the U.K. market, which is sufficient to feed around a fifth of the U.K.’s dairy herd. Using animal feed-grade wheat, which previously would have been exported, Vivergo will become the U.K.’s biggest wheat buyer, utilizing 1.1 million m.t./yr. The company plans to source its wheat primarily from farms in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The Vivergo plant is a re-development project built on a 25-acre site within the Saltend Chemicals Park near Hull. Now operational, the plant employs around 80 full-time personnel and is estimated to support over a thousand additional jobs through its supply chain.