Vivergo Fuels Ltd has opened the United Kingdom’s (UK)  largest bioethanol plant based on Praj technology and design. The greenfield biorefinery is operating on wheat produced in the UK and according to Praj, the feedstock is highly energy efficient due to the integration of the distillation, dehydration and evaporation processes that reduce energy consumption. The plant adheres to European Union (EU) sustainability criteria for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions.

Vivergo Fuels is a joint venture between AB Sugar, BP, and DuPont. The plant is capable of producing around 1/3 of the UK’s current bioethanol demand for petrol and will be UK’s largest single source supplier of animal feed. Vivergo Fuels has already gained International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), certifying that bioethanol plant and their business fully comply with the requirements of the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

Dave Richards, Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels, said, “We’re very pleased that our plant has officially opened and look forward to a successful future as one the Europe’s largest bioethanol businesses. We’d like to thank Praj for their support throughout the delivery of this project.”

Praj provided the license for the technology, basic engineering as well as certain equipment for the core process block which includes liquefaction, fermentation, distillation, multi effect evaporation and molecular sieve dehydration. The plant is designed to use 1.1 million tonnes of feed-grade wheat to produce 420 million litres of bioethanol and 500,000 tonnes of protein rich animal feed per year.

The CE marked ready-to-install equipment were designed, manufactured, assembled and tested at Praj’s manufacturing facility in SEZ, Kandla. This enabled quick and easy installation on-site. The large size equipment with diameter of 4.6 m and height of 37.75 m were shipped in one-piece.

“It’s been a great experience and a matter of pride for Praj to be associated with the ‘Largest Bioethanol Project’ in the UK for Vivergo Fuels,” said Pramod Chaudhari, executive chairman, Praj Industries Limited. “With Praj’s experience of nearly three decades, we have designed an energy efficient plant with minimum energy consumption leading to 30-40 percent saving in water and steam. This is the 2nd bioethanol plant in U.K. based on Praj technology.”