21st November 2006

Ethanol at the plant will be made by fermenting wheat in a process similar to making whisky.

It will require a million tonnes of wheat a year - equal to 1,000 acres a day.

It's little wonder the plant will also support about 1,500 jobs in the farming community.

Robin Twizell, managing director of Renewable Energy From Agriculture, said: "We are already producing wheat for biofuels in Scotland, so it will be great for the local industry to be able to sell its produce locally, and this might improve the price.

"A couple of years ago, there wasn't much wheat being produced as the demand came mainly from other countries, with obvious export costs.

"Increasing demand for wheat domestically, where these costs can be cut and farmers can make more money, will have a hugely positive impact on farming locally."

The project is also a major boost to region's engineering and construction sector.

Joe Keith, TGWU senior regional industrial organiser, said: "This is the most positive bit of news for Teesside in many a year. The implications for skills and employment in the region with the creation of 800 jobs, as well as the positive implications for the environment, make this an excellent boost to Teesside."

Paul Gavens, managing director of SembCorp Utilities UK, which owns most of the development land at Wilton, said: "We are absolutely delighted Ensus has decided to make this major investment on the Wilton International site.

"It is testament to the attractiveness of the site itself, the Tees Valley as a centre for biofuels production and the quality of the workforce available.

"Alan Clarke, chief executive of regional development agency One NorthEast, said: "This major investment is another massive vote of confidence in Tees Valley and its process industries sector which is now firmly established as a UK centre of excellence in this field."

Key players with Tees links - Several of the key players in Ensus have links with Teesside.

Alwyn Hughes, Ensus chief executive

The 47-year-old began his working life in 1980 on Teesside as a graduate recruit to ICI.

From 1988-1990 he worked as a business manager for Billingham-based ICI Katalco, helping to market and sell its technical expertise around the world before working as an engineering manager for ICI Fibres's nylon facilities at Wilton from 1990-1993.

From 1993-5 he was global supply chain director at ICI Acrylics, a role covering 13 sites across Europe, USA and Asia Pacific.

He then took the corporate roll of purchasing director, defining and leading one of the most ambitious initiatives undertaken by ICI in gaining greater control of spend across the whole group - achieving savings of more than £200m in two years.

He has also been business managing director of ICI Acrylics, vice president strategy, performance and strategic projects based at ICI HQ in London and, more recently, Elance managing director Europe - running the European operations of the US-based company which pioneered software to find, buy and manage external outsourced services.

Sir Rob Margetts, Ensus chairman

Chairman of Legal and General Group he is also a senior independent non-executive director of Anglo American.

He joined 1CI in 1969 as a process design engineer at Billingham's agricultural division and, in 1992, aged 45, became the youngest person to be appointed to ICI's main board.

He was appointed vice-chairman in 1998 and retired from the board in 2000.

Sandy Anderson, Chairman Ensus UK

Has extensive experience in the process industry - for a time he was responsible for ICI operations on Teesside, which included the Wilton site.

He has held a range of ICI roles including senior vice president technology, director of engineering, general manager Teesside operations, operations director for the Tioxide Group and director of ICI Pakistan.

He has also held a number of local appointments and directorships including chairman of the Teesside Training Enterprise, director of Teesside Development Corporation, chairman of the South Durham NHS Acute Trust and, most recently, as non executive director for the Centre for Process Innovation. He is currently chairman of Teesside University.

Michael Fox, Ensus deputy chairman and business development director

He is a founding shareholder and former chief executive of Yarm-based GTL Resources, whose principal activity was the development of alternative fuel projects.He left GTL in October last year to focus on the European bioethanol market.

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Fact file

Bioethanol offers a renewable and environmentally friendly alternative to oil for petrol driven vehicles.

The EU and the UK Government have a clearly stated ambition and programme to cut fossil fuel consumption in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the dependency on oil and to enhance the security of energy supply.

In 2003, the European Union issued a directive which has targeted 5.75% of transport fuels to come from biofuels by 2010.

In the UK, biofuels currently receive a 20p/litre duty differential compared with regular petrol and diesel.

The UK Government has also announced that it will be introducing from 2008 a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) as a way of further supporting the uptake of biofuels, with a target of 5% of all road fuels sold in the UK coming from renewable sources by 2010.

The Government has also signalled its intention of increasing the levels beyond 5% in the years after 2010.

Biofuels offer a source of cleaner and more sustainable fuel.

Legislative initiatives within the EU seek to promote environmentally friendly fuel alternatives with lower emission levels as fossil fuel supplies diminish.

They are likely to play an increasingly important role in the transport fuels mix as governments try to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

By 2010 all transport fuels must contain 5.75% of biofuel as stipulated by the EU. This looks set to rise.

In addition, members of the EU have introduced tax incentives and mandatory targets to encourage the use of biofuel.

Biofuel companies on Teesside include Biofuels Corporation at Seal Sands and D1 Oils in Middlesbrough.

Planned projects include Stokesley-based Vireol's £100m bioethanol plant, a £47m oil seed rape processing plant by Tees Valley Biofuels, two further 200,000 tonnes-a-year plants at Biofuels Corporation's site and Losonoco's planned £60m bioethanol development at Billingham.