October 30, 2012
Two ethanol plants to supply DDGS to Britain
Britain will be supplied by two huge wheat-for-ethanol plants and extra one million tonnes of distillers grains to the animal feed industry.
Material from these plants will help fill the cattle fodder gaps for the coming winter. In particular, the ethanol co-products will make a contribution to lowering the demand for imported protein and soymeal.
The two new British ethanol plants include the Ensusplant on Teeside, which is already operating, and the Vivergo plant near Hull, which is gearing up to production over the next couple of months.
Both plants are based in the grain-growing region of the east of England. Each plant can handle more than one million tonnes of British grown feedwheat. Between them, the two plants are expected to put over one million tonnes of extra animal feed per year onto the British and Irish markets.
A spokesman for Vivergo said that the two million tonnes of wheat feedstock for the ethanol plants would normally be exported (in most years Britain exports three million tonnes of wheat).
The first co-products from the Ensus bioethanol plant are already on sale in Ireland. The basic product is Northern Gold, a moist feed of 36% dry matter, 26% protein with 13.6 kJ ME, and is sold at about EUR140 (US$181) per tonne delivered.
Another ethanol co-product wheat syrup (28% dry matter, 40% protein and 14.2 kJ ME), is being delivered to Irish farmers at EUR85-90 (US$110-116) per tonne, depending on the distance from the east coast.
The bulk of product from the Vivergo plant will be marketed as pelleted DDGS with 92% DM, 32% CP and 13.7 kJ ME. This too can be used to replace imported soy and corn meal. The product can be included in the ration to up to 20% for dairy cows and up to 37% for beef cattle rations.