- CO2 supplies vital for critical sectors protected as
government backs plant to resume production.
- Three-month temporary plant restart measure provides
resilience for CO2 supply essential for healthcare,
food supply, and civil nuclear.
- Government had safeguarded CO2 production at the plant for
this situation, ensuring Britain maintains critical supply during
Iran war disruption.
The Government has shored up the UK's critical supplies
of CO2 vital for Britain's nuclear, packaged
meats, fresh food and healthcare by temporarily
restarting the Ensus bioethanol plant in Wilton,
Teesside today.
The Ensus plant will operate for
a three-month period, to bolster domestic
CO2 production significantly, providing more resilience to
essential sectors. The plant ceased production in Autumn 2025 and
was set to close permanently; however, following intervention by
the Government, the company agreed to keep it on standby to
provide resilience for critical sectors.
Disruptions to European fertiliser production — combined with
difficult market conditions — have significantly reduced the
reliability of CO2 imports, and rising gas prices driven by
the Iran conflict, plus unplanned maintenance at several
European CO2 producing sites, mean that the UK's market
for CO2 risks being undersupplied.
Given the potential impact of a shortage on essential UK
sectors, including healthcare, nuclear and food and drink
production, the Government has taken the decision to back
the restart of activity at Ensus to safeguard critical
national infrastructure and maintain a resilient supply
of CO2.
When the Government could have stepped back and let the plant
close last year, we stepped in to keep it on standby.
The Government has been in negotiations
with Ensus since September to temporarily
retain the plant and its
operation, to give it the optionality to
restart production when needed. This is the
difference an active and strategic state makes.
Business Secretary said:
As a government of action we will always
do what's needed to ensure resilience and protect
British businesses from the worst impacts of global
uncertainty. That's why we have been in
discussions with Ensus since September to keep
this critical plant on standby for situations like this.
By restarting this plant we've acted swiftly to boost the
resilience of our supply chains and protect critical UK sectors
like food production, water and healthcare, as well as the jobs
and communities that depend on these industries.”
This action forms part of wider government work designed to
ensure the UK maintains access to its critical
industrial inputs during global supply shocks, such as the
ongoing Iran conflict.
The Government will continue to monitor market
conditions closely and will work with industry, including
CO2 suppliers, to manage supply, and ensure value for money
for the taxpayer.
The Government is also taking steps to diversify the UK's long
term CO2 supply, to strengthen UK resilience and
reduce future reliance on imports. We
will work with industry on our long term plan to
secure resilience in the sector.
While previous governments closed Britain's gas
storage, time and again we have stepped in to
support our resilience: from keeping the blast furnaces running
at Scunthorpe to saving the chemical cracker at
Grangemouth.
Grant Pearson, Chairman of Ensus,
said:
This agreement of support from the UK Government is excellent
news for our employees and those in our extensive supply
chain. It strengthens the broader Teesside manufacturing
economy and the UK's resilience in relation to biogenic
CO2 supplies, which are vital to food and drinks
companies, as well as being important
to hospitals, abattoirs and the nuclear
industry.
When the production plant is in operation the deal will also
be very supportive to the UK agricultural and fuel
markets including the expansion required in more sustainable
aviation and maritime fuels and the future manufacture of more
sustainable chemicals.
