Kemi Badenock talks reopening of Ensus plant in Redcar

The Ensus plant, in Lazenby, Redcar, was wound down last September after a US trade deal cut tariffs on bioethanal, its main product. 

But a new £100 million Government grant has meant the site can now reopen, with the decision largely being down to the plant’s by-production of carbon dioxide. 

The gas is vital for a range of sectors, including the nuclear industry and hospitals, and the food and drink industry through fizzy drinks and pints. 

Ms Badenock visited the Wilton International site, where Ensus is based, on Thursday (April 2) where she announced plans to axe carbon tax entirely. 

And when asked about the Ensus site, and whether a Tory Government would be willing to directly intervene in an issue like the winding down of Ensus, she argued it would be better if the Government “stopped creating problems in the first place by taxing too much”.

Dated: 20/07/15 Ensus and Wilton site. (Image: NNP)

She said: “I’ve been speaking to the workers and senior management on this site and they’re all saying the same thing: energy costs are too high. 


“Rather than taxing businesses, so high that they are then failing and the government having to step in, it would be better just to not have these carbon taxes. 

“I want industry back in this country. I am an engineer, engineering is not an industry that you mess around with. You have got to back it properly.” 

Before Ensus ceased operation, the Wilton site produced the majority of the country’s CO2; now, nearly 80 per cent of the gas is imported, sparking concerns of a shortage amid the Gulf War.

Ms Badenock argued the Government “needs to do better for these companies” otherwise it is “not going to be able to deliver anything in our country”. 

“It’ll make us more reliant on countries like China, that is not what conservatives want to see”, the party leader explained.

(Image: PR)

“We wouldn’t be making the mess in the first place that was forcing them to leave. 


“We’d be drilling our own oil and gas in the North Sea, and using those tax revenues to do better things. I want to see us having a cheap power plant. 


“That will help businesses like Ensus. 

“Business everywhere, especially industrial businesses in the North, are tired of the Government stepping in, making everything worse, and then when there’s a problem saying, oh, well, here’s a little bit of cash to tide you over.” 

Ensus chairman Grant Pearson told The Northern Echo last week that he had been working to secure the new Government deal over the last ten months. 

The plant is reopening at a time when CO2 demand is expected to increase, with both summer and the World Cup – and therefore more beer drinking – on the horizon.

The site is expected to be fully back up and running within a month – and he hopes to soon no longer rely on the Government handout and create a sustainable production. 

Ensus has been based on Teesside since 2010 and has been owned by CropEnergies, part of the German-based Südzucker Group, since 2013.

The plant converts more than a million tonnes of animal feed-grade wheat a year into 400 million litres of bioethanal (alcohol), making the E10 and E5 forms of petrol more sustainable.