Bioethanol plant ready to open in Saltend

Vivergo has announced that it will shortly open a bioethanol plant at Saltend, north-east England, with commissioning on the facility now under way.

The £300 million plant will process wheat into green fuel as well as protein-rich animal feed, and is set to open by late spring. The process plant will create around a thousand jobs in the region, according to government estimates, and will be the largest bioethanol plant in the UK, covering 25 acres.

The biofuel composition will be wheat based at the site, producing ethanol which is set to play a big role in the future of green fuel in the country. Presently, regular petrol is about five per cent ethanol, however, the Government has targeted a vast increase in this composition. Many new cars are designed to run on fuel containing anything from ten to 80 per cent ethanol, allowing companies such as Vivergo the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gasses dramatically.

The material left over following the brewing process will be diverted into huge wheat dryer drums, where it will be transformed into 500,000 tonnes of pelleted animal feed, which is enough to feed 340,000 cows every day.

Posted by Lauren Steadman