Press - Current releases

Greenergy Brazil launched to source and sell sustainable Brazilian bioethanol

25th January 2010

• Joint venture with Bauche Group will improve security of supply for European market;
• Venture enhances commodity trading flexibility for cost competitive, sustainable RTFO and RED delivery; and
• Strong growth for gold standard sustainable bioethanol as obligated biofuel inclusion levels increase across Europe.

Greenergy International Ltd, one of the biggest fuel suppliers in the UK, has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Bauche Group (30%), a leading expert in the sugarcane industry, to source and sell sustainable Brazilian bioethanol. The new business, Greenergy Brazil headquartered in Sao Paulo, has been established to meet increasing demand for UK RTFO and EU Renewable Energy Directive compliant bioethanol.

Greenergy supplies a number of UK fuel companies and forecourt operators with sustainable Brazilian bioethanol and has established an extensive gold standard sustainability audit programme for producers in Brazil. The joint venture will help secure future supplies of sustainable product, reduce the overall cost of buying bioethanol and secure Greenergy’s role as the leading inland supplier to the UK and Europe. In 2010 traded volumes are expected to exceed 600,000 cbm, of which approximately 50% will be supplied by Greenergy into the UK market. These levels are expected to more than double over the next 3 years as obligated biofuel inclusion levels increase across Europe.

The new business brings together two of the leading players in the development of Brazil’s bioethanol export market. Bauche Group has an established presence in Brazil with extensive trading relationships with local mills and has been working with Greenergy to establish best practice suppliers of sustainably sourced and traceable bioethanol for movement into the UK and Europe for a number of years.

The joint venture will strengthen Greenergy’s commercial relationships with Brazilian producers and, as a significant direct inland buyer, will give it further leverage in influencing the take up of its sustainability criteria by bioethanol mill owners. It will also underpin the delivery of Greenergy’s UK Flexibio product guaranteeing RTFO or RED compliant biofuel to major oil companies to offset their RTFO and RED compliance risk.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive commented:
“Greenergy Brazil secures our presence in a territory recognised for its leadership in the delivery of low carbon intensity high quality bioethanol. We now have outstanding access to significant volumes of pre-certified product that meets and exceeds RTFO and RED sustainability requirements and are ideally placed to capitalise on growing demand for RED compliant product in Europe.”

Alexander Bauche, Board Director commented:
“Working with Greenergy has enabled us to strengthen our network and to develop the supply infrastructure to guarantee the highest quality sustainable bioethanol from the Brazilian market. Greenergy Brazil is the next step in establishing a secure export market and in expanding our trading position.”

Greenergy has been auditing in Brazil since 2007, working with suppliers as part of an ongoing commercial relationship to support them in the implementation of environmental and social sustainability. The sustainability programme continues to expand, with six new mills passing third party audits for the first time in November and December 2009 and a further four mills due to pass an audit in January and February 2010.

100% of the bioethanol supplied from Brazil through Greenergy Brazil to Europe will comply with Greenergy’s gold standard sustainability criteria.

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Greenergy sustainability audit programme leading the industry

16th December 2009

• Audit programme brings “biofuel dividend” with indirect benefits for sugar in food; and
• Greenergy continues to significantly exceed Government target for sustainable biofuel 18 months into the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation.

Greenergy, one of the biggest fuel suppliers in the UK, announced today that 76% of the bioethanol it supplied during the first 6 months of this RTFO year (15 April to 14 October 2009) met approved environmental sustainability standards, compared with a Government target of 50%. This reflects the success of Greenergy’s sustainability audit programme for Brazilian producers.

Greenergy started auditing in Brazil in 2007, having drawn up criteria to demonstrate compliance with the “gold standard” environmental and social sustainability principles of the UK Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO). Since then it has been working with selected suppliers in Brazil as part of an ongoing commercial relationship to help them develop and implement sustainability action plans. These have been followed by independent third-party audits to formally measure compliance against the RTFO sustainability principles.

For the biofuel that Greenergy reported during the RTFO period 15 April – 14 October 2009 the results were as follows:

• 80% of Greenergy’s Brazilian bioethanol was sourced from mills for which Greenergy had organised third-party audits. It is Greenergy’s intention to audit the remaining 20% during the next harvest season.

• Of the audited volume, 94% was found to meet environmental sustainability criteria with 78% meeting social sustainability criteria.

Greenhouse gas savings compared to mineral petrol averaged 72%, far exceeding the Government target of 45%.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive commented:

“We are sending the strongest possible commercial signal to our suppliers. If significant non-conformances are found that the mill is unwilling to address, we take our business elsewhere.

“We are far ahead of the food industry in driving demand for sustainable production of the crops that we both use. We are creating a very significant biofuel dividend not only directly in the mills we buy from but also indirectly by raising awareness of sustainability more broadly within the industry.”

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First Audited Biofuels Report Published by Greenergy

25th September 2009

• All targets exceeded as new sustainability principles pay dividends

Greenergy Fuels Ltd, the UK’s largest biofuel supplier and a leading producer and supplier of road transport fuels, published today its first Annual Report on biofuels supplied in the inaugural year of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation [RTFO]. Audited by Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP, the report provides the first detailed review by any major oil company of performance against Government targets and shows that Greenergy, which suppliers more than 12 per cent of all UK road transport fuels, significantly exceeded all targets:

• Average Greenhouse Gas Saving: Greenergy’s focus on biofuels that deliver the greatest greenhouse gas saving delivered an overall carbon saving of 61 per cent versus fossil fuel equivalents against a target of 40 per cent. In practice this meant not allowing price to define biofuel selection and, wherever possible, seeking fuel derived from by-products.

• Data meeting environmental standards: despite limited availability of certifiable fuels, 43 per cent of biofuel Greenergy supplied met standards against a target of 30 per cent [51% for bioethanol, 37% for biodiesel]. This was achieved following Greenergy’s development of sustainability criteria for Brazilian bioethanol and the introduction of a third party field audit programme.

• Data reporting on biofuel characteristics: increasing transparency in its biofuels supply chain mean that Greenergy achieved 81 per cent for data reporting against a government target of 50 per cent [86% for bioethanol, 76% for biodiesel].

Chief Executive, Andrew Owens commented “We are pleased to have exceeded these targets. As the sector leader we will continue to go further, working with our agricultural suppliers on the ground to deliver sustainable greenhouse gas emission savings for the UK transport sector".

Click here to download the 'Annual Report to the Renewable Fuels Agency’.

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Greenergy Plymouth storage facilities to open on schedule on 1st October

18th August 2009

• Cattedown and Mayflower terminals now doubled in capacity;
• Over 70% of fuel availability already sold to customers; and
• New petrol and diesel blending facility to follow in Teesside.

Greenergy Fuels Ltd, one of the UK’s top three road fuel suppliers, has confirmed that its new fuel storage facilities at Cattedown and Mayflower in Plymouth will open on schedule on 1 October 2009. After acquiring the facility in June 2008, the company has carried out renovations and refurbishments to make this the first major post-Buncefield terminal new-build in the UK.

The works have doubled the capacity of the terminals to 42 million litres. This will deliver significant service and cost benefits to the South West of England, an area historically subject to under-supply and correspondingly high fuel prices. Six weeks prior to the opening of its Plymouth terminal, Greenergy confirmed that over 70% of its availability had already been sold to supermarket, oil major and other customers.

Meanwhile, construction works have already begun on Greenergy’s new, state-of-the-art, 80,000 cbm facility for petrol and diesel blending and storage in Teesside. This facility, which marks the first phase of a more extended planned investment program in Teesside, will deliver full petrol and diesel blending and loading facilities from spring 2010.

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Greenergy invests in new petrol and diesel blending and storage facilities in North East of England

28th April 2009

• Greenergy continues investment programme in UK fuels infrastructure;
• Full petrol and diesel blending facility to be available from April 2010; and
• Teesside potential hub for new rail distribution system.

Greenergy Fuels Ltd, one of the UK’s top three road fuel suppliers, today (28 April 2009) announced that it will be making a multi-million pound investment in a new, state-of-the-art, 80,000 cbm facility for petrol and diesel blending and storage in Teesside. The facility, which marks the first phase of a more extended planned investment program in Teesside, will deliver diesel supplies from summer 2009 and full petrol and diesel blending and loading facilities from early 2010.

The announcement continues Greenergy’s investment in its petroleum storage infrastructure and marks the next step in its UK expansion strategy. It follows its recent acquisition and refurbishment of the Mayflower and Cattedown terminals in Plymouth, scheduled to come on line in September 2009, and the completion of new tankage at Vopak on the Thames in 2008. The new Teesside facility will give Greenergy a distribution base in the region for the first time, enabling it to enhance services to customers in one of the largest urban conurbations in the UK.

Existing tankage at the Vopak terminal at Seal Sands in Teesside will be converted to create an advanced petrol, diesel and biofuel blending terminal, replicating the facility that Greenergy currently uses at Vopak’s West Thurrock terminal on the Thames. Five brand new, high speed state of the art loading racks will also be built for sole use by Greenergy customers.

Greenergy Chief Executive Andrew Owens said:

“Our investment will create a modern, world-class facility which is much needed in the region. It will put in place a more cost-effective supply route, driving down costs and improving service quality for customers across the region.

“Whilst we will not have the full retail mix available until early next year, we will be supplying diesel from July to “delivered in” customers who receive deliveries by the Greenergy truck fleet.”

Further investments are planned for the region, with Owens confirming that Teesside is being proposed as the hub for Greenergy’s new inland rail distribution system. This would allow Greenergy to use Teesside as the break bulk point for other regions in the UK, with fuel moved to new planned grass roots terminals and existing terminals by rail rather than by ship or road.

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Greenergy consolidates position as largest independent oil company in Scotland.

4th December 2008

• Fuel storage capacity in Scotland doubled;
• Exclusive use of the Clydebank terminal near Glasgow confirmed; and
• Ongoing nationwide expansion programme continues.

Greenergy, the £4.8 billion (2008) turnover UK fuel supplier today confirmed that it has secured exclusive use of the Clydebank fuel terminal near Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland. The new tankage more than doubles Greenergy’s total fuel storage capacity in the region to 57,000 cubic meters making the company the largest independent fuel supplier in Scotland by a considerable margin.

Greenergy has been selling fuel to its customers in Scotland from Clydebank and the Grangemouth terminal on the east coast since October 2006. The company sets itself the highest standards of service and this new tankage will generate further operational efficiencies.

The new agreement at Clydebank is part of Greenergy’s nationwide expansion programme which also includes the recent purchase and regeneration of the Mayflower terminal in Plymouth. Further projects will follow in 2009.

Greenergy Chief Executive Andrew Owens commented:

“We are committed to an ongoing investment programme into fuel supply infrastructure across the UK. By expanding our facilities in Scotland we can optimise our operations and continue to build economies of scale. It will also ensure that we can further improve the level of service we provide our customers and significantly increase our operations in Scotland.”

Greenergy currently supplies over six billion litres of fuel every year to customers across the UK giving the company more than 11 per cent share of the road transport fuels market.

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Greenergy warns against over-simplification of relationship between biofuels and food prices

2nd July 2008

Greenergy, which supplies over 10% of all road fuels in the UK, has warned in advance of the publication of the Gallagher Report against over-simplification in the biofuels debate and called for careful consideration of the relationship between food prices, fuel prices and biofuels.

Andrew Owens, Chief Executive of Greenergy commented:

“We welcome the fact that the Government has begun to address the complex inter-relationship between food, land use, biofuels and fuel security. We see the Gallagher Report as the start of this process rather than the end.

“The relationship between biofuels and food prices is multi-sided. For example, biofuels have a role in stimulating demand for agricultural crops and therefore the potential to affect food price inflation (although we believe this effect is small and difficult to quantify). However, biofuels are also playing a major role in the reduction of fuel prices¹ which in turn reduces the cost of food production - energy, from fertilisers to tractors to transport to processing being a significant cost in food production.

Owens went on to highlight the dangers of taking biofuels out of the energy equation:

“The reality is that we can rapidly increase the amount of food we produce in the world, but the same is not true for oil.

“Global food supply could be expanded in the short to medium term by improved production techniques and crop yields, increases in the amount of land used for crop production² and the reduction of trade barriers. But there is a structural resource shortage for oil. Crude oil is scarce, oil refineries are operating at their production limits and both have multi-decade development periods. Any future oil will more expensive and carbon intensive to exploit, yet global demand for oil is expected to increase³.

Biofuels are expected to account for a significant proportion of the growth in fuel supply in the future⁴. If biofuels were not part of the global fuel mix, then fuel supply would be further constrained and Greenergy believes that prices, for both fuel and food, would be higher than they would otherwise be, affecting our ability to produce food:

“Without affordable fuel for today and tomorrow, developing nations will not be able to progress from subsistence farming to the more secure and productive agriculture practices needed to feed the growing population over the years ahead. Without biofuels, fuel prices will continue to rise to levels that put them out of reach of the many in developing nations who need fuel to produce food.

“With our future food and fuel security therefore intimately linked, the Government’s objective must be to ensure that sustainable biofuels remain part of the solution.”

1. Greenergy estimates that the availability of biofuels today is reducing fuel prices by as much as $10/barrel.
2. The estimated global area of abandoned agriculture is 385 – 472 million hectares. Source: “The Global Potential of Bioenergy on Abandoned Agriculture Lands” by J. Elliott Campbell, David B. Lobell, Robert C. Genova, and Christopher B. Field of Carnegie Institute and Stanford University, published in Environment Science and Technology Journal, 25 June 2008.
3. The International Energy Agency forecasts that global demand for oil products will grow by an average 1.6% per year to 2013. Source: IEA Medium Term Oil Market Report, 1 July 2008.
4. Biofuels are forecast to contribute around 50% of non-OPEC supply growth in 2008-2013. Source: International Energy Agency, MTOMR, July 2008.

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Greenergy and ProForest develop bioethanol sustainability criteria

18th June 2008

- Sustainability criteria address social and environmental concerns
- Criteria approved by Renewable Fuels Agency
- Greenergy to audit all its Brazilian bioethanol suppliers to assess compliance

Greenergy Fuels Ltd, the UK’s leading independent oil company and market leader in biofuels, has today (18 June 2008) unveiled the first set of biofuels sustainability criteria for bioethanol developed to meet the requirements of the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).

The new bioethanol criteria were produced by ProForest with advice from a range of Brazilian organisations including Imaflora, a leading standards organisation in Brazil, and have now been approved by the UK Government’s Renewable Fuels Agency. It means for the first time, Greenergy will be able to effectively audit its Brazilian bioethanol purchases.

Andrew Owens, Chief Executive of Greenergy explains:

“The RTFO relies on credible standards for benchmarking sustainability. As one of the biggest suppliers of petroleum and biofuels in the UK, we have an important role to play in leading the industry and developing best practice. Today we have set a clear marker for bioethanol, with the approval of these criteria by the Renewable Fuels Agency.

“Greenergy is committed to sourcing biofuels from the most sustainable sources and will continue to look at ways to contribute to the development of rigorous industry trading standards to ensure maximum benefit for all from the biofuels market.”

Sue McDougall, Acting Chief Executive of the RFA, said:

"We are delighted to see one the major players supporting sustainable sourcing by becoming the first UK biofuel supplier to commit to implementing the full RTFO meta-standard. This is an important step forward for the RTFO, for the biofuels industry, and for the environment.”

Brazilian bioethanol, supplied by Greenergy, accounts for a significant proportion of all bioethanol used in the UK. It is Greenergy’s preferred bioethanol source delivering carbon savings of in excess of 70 per cent when compared with standard petrol and significantly greater savings than all other forms of bioethanol currently on the market. Brazilian bioethanol also supports an established farming infrastructure carefully monitored by the Brazilian Government.

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Greenergy to acquire fuel storage facilities in Plymouth

2nd June 2008

- Major development programme to benefit South West.

Greenergy Fuels Ltd, the UK's fastest growing independent fuels supplier, announced today [2 June 2008] that it has completed the acquisition of a fuel storage facility in Plymouth.

Proposed investment by Greenergy to upgrade onsite infrastructure will see the capacity of the terminal almost double whilst also providing improvements in reliability and efficiency. This will deliver significant service and cost benefits to the South West of England, an area historically subject to under supply and correspondingly high fuel prices. The investment will also facilitate the roll-out of Tesco 99 Octane petrol in the South West.

The acquisition forms part of Greenergy's ongoing investment programme in developing a modern and sophisticated fuel supply infrastructure across the UK. The site will form an important addition to its UK and European network of 15 terminal facilities.

Greenergy Fuels Ltd Chief Executive Andrew Owens commented:

“Greenergy continues its programme of investment in the UK fuels market - developing new facilities and refreshing existing parts of the blending, storage and supply infrastructure. This new storage facility will further improve our nationwide network whilst offering reliable and cost effective supply to the region.”

Further details are commercially confidential.

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