15th Mar 2006 10:50
D1 Oils Plc15 March 2006 D1 Oils Establishes Biodiesel Refinery Site on Teesside 8.4 Acre Site to House Refineries and New Global HQ 15 March, 2006 - London D1 Oils plc (D1), the UK-based global producer of biodiesel from renewableenergy crops, announces that it has established a new global headquarters inMiddlesbrough on Teesside, and has delivered the first of four biodieselrefinery units it expects to put on the site by the end of June 2006. All fourunits are expected to be in full production by Autumn 2006, creating a regionalrefinery centre with an initial production capacity of 32,000 tonnes per annum.In advance of the availability in volume of supplies of crude jatropha oil, D1'sprimary feedstock, the refineries will produce biodiesel from food gradevegetable oils. D1 will make the site, located on Riverside Industrial Park, Middlesbrough, itsglobal operational and UK headquarters, bringing together teams formerlydispersed in London, Stockton and Preston. The site will also house refineryresearch and development, final assembly and testing facilities for refineryunits for export, and training facilities for refinery crews from D1'sinternational operations and overseas partners and customers. The four new refineries to be deployed at the site are the first productionunits of the company's D1 20 refinery. Each unit is capable of producing 8,000tonnes of biodiesel per year. D1's first refinery, the D1 20 test unit currentlylocated near Preston in the North West of England, will be moved to theMiddlesbrough site in the near future. This will continue to be used as a testrefinery rather than a full production unit, bringing the total number ofrefinery units deployed to Middlesbrough to five. The 8.4 acre site is located 800m from the river Tees. A rail siding connectsthe site to the river wharf. The site has 26,000 sq ft of test and fabricationarea, alongside a tank farm, and workshop, laboratory and office space.Sufficient land exists to expand significantly refinery and tank farmoperations. Necessary local planning permissions were completed in February. TheEnvironment Agency has indicated that final operating approvals can be grantedshortly. Elliott Mannis, CEO of D1 Oils, said: "We are building a global supply chain forbiodiesel production stretching from the upstream agronomy of planting andharvesting energy crops to downstream refining and trading of vegetable oils andbiodiesel. By operating four D1 20 refineries on a single site we can benefitfrom considerable economies of scale. The site has room for significantexpansion of refinery operations." Karl Watkin, Chairman of D1 Oils, added: "The deployment of the first D1 20 toTeesside to begin refining biodiesel is the realisation of years of hard work bythe whole company and in particular by the refinery team. The site will be ashowcase for the refining technology and engineering capabilities of both D1 andthe region." Middlesbrough Councillor David Budd, executive member for regeneration, said:"It is good to see a growing company making Middlesbrough their location ofchoice. This is a market with massive potential and D1 Oils will be ideallyplaced to expand and prosper." Contacts: D1 Oils: Graham Prince, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: +44 (0) 1642 755580 Mobile: +44 (0) 7973 323840 Brunswick Group: Helen Barnes, Associate Partner Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 Middlesbrough Council: Mike Clark Public Relations Officer Tel: +44 (0)1642 729502. Notes to Editors D1 Oils plc is a UK-based global producer of biodiesel from renewable energycrops. We are building a global supply chain and network that is sustainable anddelivers value from "earth-to-engine". Our operations cover agronomy, refiningand trading. We are pioneering the science, planting and production of inediblevegetable oils; we design, build, own, operate and market biodiesel refineries;and we source, transport and trade seeds and seedlings, seedcake, crudevegetable oils and biodiesel. Our vision is to be the world's leading biodieselbusiness. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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