Stockton Team Land Key Role on Local Bioethanol Project
The Stockton-on-Tees office of international project management and cost consultants Faithful+Gould is celebrating its appointment to a project which will see the development of the UK’s first large-scale bioethanol production facility.
The contract win coincides with an increase in the demand for Faithful+Gould’s expertise in industrial projects, following sustained growth and investment in the local market.
The project marks a major step towards enabling the UK to meet its EU biofuel obligations. Faithful+Gould has been brought on board by Yarm based company Ensus (UK Ltd), which is to build the plant in Wilton in the North East, creating 800 jobs during the construction phase and a further 100 permanent jobs when production begins in 2009.
The facility will convert over 1 million tonnes of wheat per year into ethanol – a clear, colourless liquid that can be blended with petrol for use in cars and lorries without any need for modifications to the engine.
Faithful+Gould will provide commercial and cost management support to the implementation phase of the project between April and the first quarter of 2009. Its duties will include managing the payments process, ensuring that the construction project control is administered effectively, setting up and managing the change control system as well as assisting in planning and carrying out project audits.
Dennis Edwards, regional director of Faithful+Gould, said:
“We have significant experience of delivering core services on high profile industrial projects and our skills in this area have proved to be increasingly in demand as the regional economy is further bolstered by significant industrial investment.
“This project has seen our team build on a previously established relationship with Ensus, with which we have a good working relationship. Our team is delighted to be working on such a prestigious project, which will have a tremendous impact in meeting the country’s carbon emissions reduction targets.
“Teesside, which is already home to a number of biodiesel firms, is fast making its name as the fuels capital of the UK. This industrial expansion is set to further expand the local market and Faithful+Gould is extremely well placed to service it.”
David Henniker-Major from Ensus, said:
“The combination of Faithful+Gould’s undoubted abilities within the industrial sector and its team’s understanding of the local market will be useful throughout the lifespan of the project. Additionally, as a local based company the commission will serve to invest further in the local market.
“The UK Government has announced that from April 2008 it will be introducing the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) which will ensure a significant and stable market for biofuels the UK, setting a mandatory target of five per cent of transport fuels to be made up of biofuels by 2010. Ensus will provide substantial underpinning to the UK meeting these targets and, at full capacity, will be capable of supplying approximately 35 per cent of the bioethanol required to achieve this target.
“Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels - it is made from sustainable crops and through the use of bioethanol, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced as the fuel crops used to produce bioethanol absorb CO2 through their growing cycle.”
The Ensus plant will produce bioethanol using established technology to ferment and distil wheat grain. The ethanol produced will be water soluble, bio-degradable and non-toxic and will result in improved air quality, lower carbon emissions and a reduction in green house gas emissions.