Fancy A Look Round Vivergo?
26/08/11 -- They say that they are "back on track" to open in the new year without being more specific than that. The Beeb have been to have a little look round: here.
The company announced recently that it had engaged four new contractor companies to restart piping and related engineering work at the plant.
Redhall Profits Slump
02/06/11 -- The loss of the Vivergo contract seems to have proven to be a bit of a spanner in the works for the engineering company Redhall Group Plc. Pre-tax profits fell 70% to GBP1m for the six months ended March 31 compared with GBP3.3 million a year ago figures released today show.
"The board believes this is a low point and trading will be much improved in the second half and beyond," they said.
Humber Gold Club
11/11/10 -- No it's not a biscuit or a new lapdancing venue in Goole (that would be called Goolies obviously), it's Frontier releasing details of the kind of supply contracts they are launching to get the 1 MMT plus of extra wheat that they'll be in the market for when Vivergo opens it's intake pits.
There's all sorts of extra bits and bobs on offer.
Full story here: Humber Gold Club
Vivergoff
My mate is a scaffolder. And my mate's mate right, by some strange quirk of spooky fate that only happens once in a billion years, you'll never guess what he does for a living. Go on, have a go, it's only a bit of fun.
Yes, you're right he's a scaffolder too, how crazy is that? My mate, and his mate, are both scaffolders, it must be a million to one shot mustn't it?
Well, here's the interesting bit, right. My mate's mate, we'll call him Dave, it will save me typing my mate's mate over and over when I'm tired. Right were are we, ah yes, right I'm back on track, go with it...
"Dave" (real name withheld for legal reasons), was a scaffolder on the Ensus job, which of course has now ended. He's only gone and got himself another different, but ever so slightly similar, job. And you'll never guess where that job is, go on, give it a go, where's the harm eh?
Blimey you're right again, that's two out of two, I can see I'm going to have to keep an eye on you. "Dave" has only gone and got himself a scaffolding job at Vivergo.
Now Dave's new scaffolding job runs until October (cue drum bit from EastEnders duh, duh, DUH, DUH, DUH), past the official scheduled opening date of "summer 2010". Wow.
I hope they aren't planning a Christmas Party at Vivergo, 'cos I've got a funny feeling that Dave will still be up his scaffolding looking through the window whilst Tracey from Accounts is photocopying her wotsits.
Still, Ensus might be up and running by then.
Next week: My other mate's mate gets a job making bacon butties at Vireoffandonagain.
Vivergo Plant Out Of Date Before It Even Opens?
A Reuters report says that the still under construction Vivergo bioethanol facility in Hull, which is fully twelve months away from starting production, will be "retrofitted" to convert it to produce biobutenol by 2012/13.
Here
Vivergo Latest
Construction is in full swing at the Vivergo biofuel plant at Saltend, according to this article from the Yorkshire Post.
Although it doesn't say when the plant will be up and running, Vivergo's own website still seems to be sticking with summer 2010.
Presumably they aren't using the same builders as Ensus then?!
The plant, requiring around 1 MMT wheat/year, will operate a grain intake open 18 hours/day, says the article, tipping 150+ loads of wheat/day.
Vivergo commercial director Brenda Head, looking rather foxy, says that the plant will bring more stability to the market. Which is good.
Good, Head
Work starts on GBP200m Saltend bioethanol plant
FWi -- Construction work has started at the site of a new GBP200m bioethanol plant in Saltend, near Hull. The plant, which will take 1.1m tonnes of mainly UK-grown wheat, is a joint venture between Associated British Foods (45%), BP (45%) and DuPont (10%), called Vivergo Fuels.
All regulatory approval and funding is in place and preparatory groundwork at the 25-acre brownfield site is almost complete, Vivergo managing director, David Richards says. "We're now moving on to the next stage of construction and are on target to start producing ethanol in summer 2010. It's fully equity funded, so all funding is in place."
Frontier will be the exclusive grain supplier, taking grain from over 1000 growers, and trading director Jon Duffy says the firm is already talking to farmers to develop growing regimes that ensure wheat supplying the plant is grown in a sustainable manner. Ultimately, you need to grow for maximum yield to reduce the carbon footprint, but we are also looking at all other aspects of production.
This grower protocol is likely to be included within contracts, details of which have not been drawn up, he says. The bulk of grain will be for harvest 2010, or drilling in autumn 2009, so we're still a year or so away from offering contracts. We haven't confirmed what varieties will be used, but high-yielding, starchy feed-type wheats will obviously be preferable.
Mr Duffy stresses that wheat supplying the plant will not detract from supplies going into existing food customers. Most will come from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and is grain that would have otherwise been exported from Hull and Grimsby, he says. Even with this plant and another [ethanol plant] on Teeside, there will be an exportable surplus of wheat in the UK it's more a case that the patterns of grain movement are changing.
We want to source wheat from UK growers, and for 90% of the time, that will be the case. The only time we may have to buy in grain is when the UK has a poor harvest.
Mr Richards welcomed some findings of the recent Gallagher Review, particularly the focus on sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but said the slow down of targets was counterproductive.
Counterproductive to who or what Mr Richards? Counterproductive to you raking in a mountain of profit in an industry that is 100% reliant on governmental policy to make it viable all in the name of saving the planet perhaps? Two hundred million quid is a lot to spend on an industry that could be worthless before the plant is even finished at the stroke of a pen in Whitehall - Nogger
