Next step: Introduction of E15
Mannheim, 26 March 2026 – CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, Germany, welcomes the UK Government’s decision to provide substantial financial support to CropEnergies’ British subsidiary Ensus UK Ltd, Wilton, UK. The UK Government has agreed a funding package worth around GBP 100 million (ca. EUR 115 million) to keep the plant in a ready to operate standby mode, ensuring long term stability of the country’s supply of biogenic CO₂, renewable ethanol for fuel applications and proteins. The plant had suspended production in September 2025 due to economic pressures.
Ensus is the last remaining major industrial biorefinery in the UK. In addition to ethanol for fuel applications and proteins, it provides biogenic CO₂ for a wide range of key sectors, including the food and beverage industry, healthcare and hospitals, the nuclear sector, and various industrial cooling and processing applications.
Through this agreement, the UK Government reinforces the resilience of national supply chains and ensures security of supply for a wide range of downstream industries. The increased demand for renewable ethanol in the UK fuel market, which exceeds the duty free import quota of 1.4 million m³ under the ‘US–UK Economic Prosperity Deal’, can likewise be met through domestic production. With the financial support now in place, Ensus aims to bring the plant back into full operation as soon as possible. The UK Government is also considering regulatory changes which will enhance the long-term economic viability of the British sector for renewable ethanol. In addition to a nationwide introduction of E15, the UK Government is also looking into the approval of agricultural biomass for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
CropEnergies AG sees the agreement as a strong signal of industrial policy. The decision by the UK Government underlines the systemic importance of domestic biorefineries as crisis-proof producers of renewable energy, sustainable products and critical CO₂ resources. Dr Fritz Georg von Graevenitz, CEO CropEnergies AG: “Ensus is an essential part of our European production platform, and we welcome the measures taken to secure the site in the long term. The anticipated introduction of E15 and of sustainable aviation fuels based on agricultural biomass is not only a strong signal for better climate protection and security of supply, but also a blueprint for corresponding implementation within the European Union.”
Sustainable, renewable products from biomass – that's what CropEnergies stands for.
Founded in 2006, the Mannheim-based group of companies offers its partners sustainable products with certified greenhouse gas savings. The aim is to combine economic success with climate protection and ensure that fossil carbon remains in the ground permanently.
The CropEnergies Group's biorefineries in Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France operate a circular economy and utilise all raw material components: regionally grown raw materials and residual and waste materials are used to produce alcohol (ethanol), neutral alcohol, biogenic carbon dioxide and protein-rich food and feed – a regional alternative to protein imports from overseas. Ethanol is used, among other things, as a climate-friendly petrol substitute, as it reduces CO2 emissions across the entire value chain by an average of over 70 per cent compared to fossil fuels.
In future, CropEnergies aims to contribute to the defossilisation of the chemical industry with ethanol-based ethyl acetate produced in an almost 100 per cent CO2-neutral process.
CropEnergies is a member of the Südzucker Group and employs over 500 people.