Vivergo Fuels, the UK’s largest bioethanol producer, to stop production at East Yorkshire plant

Vivergo Fuels Ltd, the UK’s largest bioethanol producer and Europe’s second largest producer of bioethanol, announced that it will stop production at its East Yorkshire plant.

Vivergo Fuels was formed in 2007 as a biorefinery for the future. The business was started as a joint venture between AB Sugar, BP and DuPont – to help deliver a sustainable and significant portion of the UK’s forecast biofuel demand.

The bioethanol plant can produce up to 420 million litres of bioethanol and the bioethanol is made from 1.1 million tonnes of feed wheat, sourced from nearly 900 farms mostly across the East and North Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire regions.

It is also the country’s largest single production site for animal feed, delivering 500,000 tonnes of high protein feed to more than 800 farms across the UK.

Vivergo Fuels employs more than 130 highly skilled people at its production plant in Hull and headquarters in Hessle.

“Today, we regret to announce that given the continued difficult trading environment and delays in the implementation of E10 in the UK over time, Vivergo Fuels Ltd proposes to cease production,” said Mark Chesworth, managing director of Vivergo Fuels.

“I am extremely disappointed at having to announce the proposed cessation of production as of the 30th of September 2018 at the Vivergo Fuels plant. We have created a highly skilled and world-class business that had the opportunity to be part of a British sustainable biofuels industry. But sadly, the government’s lack of pace over the past decade to introduce E10 has further undermined our ability
to operate.”