Centaur welcomes £80m biofuels boost for local farmers

North Lincolnshire Council has approved the planning application of an £80m wheat-based bioethanol plant to be built near Immingham, South Humberside.

The new venture brings together biofuels experts, Bioethanol Ltd, and wheat experts, Centaur Grain, and offers huge opportunities for farmers both locally and across the UK.

On completion of the first phase of construction, the Immingham plant will produce 100,000 tonnes of ethanol from 325,000 tonnes of wheat feedstock per year. Construction will begin in the second half of 2007 and the plant will be fully operational at the beginning of 2009. A second phase will increase the plant's production to 200,000 tonnes of ethanol from 650,000 tonnes of wheat.

Malcolm Parkinson, Centaur's Managing Director, said: "The success of this planning decision has further boosted the Bioethanol and Centaur project. Centaur is confident that we've given a huge boost to farmers and to the industry as a whole. Bioethanol will provide a stable and profitable future for the UK's farmers and Centaur is at the forefront of this development, offering our members unprecedented opportunities for financial stability, through guaranteed, long-term contracts."

Bioethanol Ltd's Director, Andrew Morris, added: "Not a day passes without reference to biofuels in the national press and the advanced development of the Bioethanol Ltd/Centaur plans means that we are in the best possible place to capitalise on efforts that the UK is making to reduce its annual CO2 emissions. We are delighted that we've further progressed towards completing this project."

Farmers who have not signed up may have missed the initial opportunity to take advantage of some of the exceptional premiums available to bioethanol wheat growers, as the contract is already over-subscribed for the first two years.

Interested farmers should contact Centaur on 01264 321457 (Andover), 01205 353355 (Boston) or 01427 809801 (Hemswell).