Ensus Group

Who are the Ensus Group and who is behind it?

The Ensus Group are a bioethanol company set up to manufacture ethanol in different European countries. Their first refinery is the Wilton plant which is currently being built at Seal Sands, near Middlesborough. It is expected to be fully operational by March 2009. The Ensus Group states that this will be Europe’s largest ethanol refinery. Other refineries of approximately the same size, owned by other companies, will start production in 2009, too. In March 2007 Ensus Group was bought by the Carlyle Group and Riverstone Holdings. This was a management by-out, meaning that the management structure and team were retained. The [[Carlyle Group]] and Riverstone Holdings are private equity firms, i.e. investment companies.[[Riverstone Holdings]] specialising in the energy and power sector, whilst the Carlyle Group have a very wide range of investments, including military, car and transport, energy and power, healthcare, real estate, telecommunications, and media.. Both firms are increasing their investment in the biofuel sector, particularly in North America but, through Ensus, also in Europe.

Company websites

Ensus Group: http://www.ensusgroup.com/ Carlyle Group: http://www.carlyle.com/index.html Riverstone Holdings: http://www.riverstonellc.com/index.html

People

Sir Rob Margetts, CBE, FREng, FIChemE Chairman Chairman of Legal & General Group PLC, Ensus Limited, Energy Technologies Institute and Senior Independent Director of Anglo American PLC. Also Chairman-Europe of Huntsman Corporation. He was also Chairman of the BOC Group PLC; Chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council and a member of the Council for Science and Technology; former Vice Chairman of ICI.

Michael Fox Deputy Chairman & Business Development Director

Alwyn Hughes CEO Held a number of senior roles in ICI

David Botterill Finance Director

Robert Easton Non-Executive Director of Ensus Group Managing Director, The Carlyle Group

Stephen Schaefer Non-Executive Director of Ensus Group Managing Director of Riverstone

Robert Coxon Non-Executive Director of Ensus Group Carlyle Senior Advisor, Chairman of Scott Bader, an international polymer and resin company, Non-Executive Director of AZ Electronic Materials, Non-Executive Director of Stahl, Chairman of the UK Center for Process Innovation, Deputy Chairman of the University of Durham and Chairman of Durham Castle, Chairman of the NE Process Industry Cluster, Non-Executive Director of The Whitehall & Industry Group. Member of the UK Chemistry Leadership Council formed to advise the U.K. government on the chemical industry. Prior to joining Carlyle, was Senior Vice President of ICI and CEO of Synetix.

Karen de Segundo Senior Non-executive Director Previous positions with Shell including Executive Vice-President of Oil Products in Brazil, CEO Shell International Gas & Power, Chairman Shell International Coal and most recently CEO of Shell Renewables and President of Shell Hydrogen. Currently on the Board of Directors of Merrill Lynch New Energy Technology Plc, Koninklijke Ahold NV, Pöyry Oyj and Lonmin Plc and the Eco Advisory Board of General Electric.

Catherine Bell, CB Non-executive Director Led the Department of Trade and Industry as Permanent Secretary. Currently a non-executive director of Swiss Reinsurance GB and the Civil Aviation Authority, and sits on the Membership Selection Panel for Network Rail.

Sandy Anderson Chairman Ensus UK Formerly responsible for ICI operations on Teesside, which included the Wilton Site. Previous ICI roles include Senior Vice President Technology, Director of Engineering, General Manager Teesside Operations, Operations Director for the Tioxide Group and Director of ICI Pakistan Ltd. Currently Chairman of the University of Teesside.

The Wilton refinery

The refinery will have the capacity to produce 410 million litres of ethanol from 1 – 1.1 million tonnes of wheat a year. Wheat will be “predominantly sourced from Europe”, including the UK, with the refinery being built next to a port to facilitate imports. Ensus has entered into contracts with the following companies with regards to the Wilton refinery: Shell: Shell Trading have signed a long-term contract to purchase all of the ethanol which will be produced. Glencore International AG: They have a contract with the Ensus Group to supply all of the wheat to the refinery and to buy the ethanol by-product DDGS (dried distillers grain with solubles) which will be sold on to the livestock industry for animal feed. Simon Carves: They are a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembawang Engineers and Constructors and a member of the Punj Lloyd Group, which holds the contract for building the Wilton refinery Semb Corp Utilities UK: A subsidiary of Singapore-based Semb Corp Utilities, describing themselves as the “leading industrial utilities and services business on Teesside and one of the largest in the UK, providing steam and electricity to the major manufacturers on the Wilton International site, including Dow, Artenius UK, Croda, Sabic and Huntsman.”1. They have been contracted to provide utilities at the refinery. Royal Vopak: They describe themselves as “the global marketleader for the independent storage and handling of liquid oil products, chemicals, vegetable oils and liquefied gases”2. They will provide storage for the Wilton plant and are currently expanding their Teesside terminal and building eight new tanks for this purpose.

1) Semb Utilities website: www.sembutilities.co.uk/ 2) Vopak website: www.vopak.com