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With the inauguration in 2008 and 2009 of four new facilities (Grand-Couronne II, Capelle-la-Grande, Bordeaux-Bassens and Mériot, each with a capacity of 280 Ml/yr) and a total of 10 facilities, Diester Inndustries (of the French group Prolea/Sofiproteol) remains the largest producer of biodiesel in the EU in 2009. Diester Industries now has a production capacity of 2'250 Ml/yr, only in France. By way of Diester Industrie International (DII), the French industrial group also controls a number of facilities outside the the French territory. The production capacity of Diester Industrie International reaches about 920 Ml/yr at the following locations: Natural Energy West (50% shares held by DII) and Mannheim Bio Fuel (100%) in Germany, Novaol Bruck (100%) in Austria, Novaol Livorno (100%) in Italy and Oleon (50%) in Belgium (source : EurObserv'ER).
ADM Biodiesel, a German subsidiary of the American group Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), runs three production plants in Germany (Hamburg, Leer and Mainz) with a total production capacity of 1'130 Ml/yr. The American group owns biodiesel plants also in Brazil, India, Indonesia and the United States. Its global production capacity is about 1'700 Ml/yr.
The Swiss group Biopetrol Industries is also one of the leaders of the European biodiesel market. The group's biodiesel production is done in Germany in Schwarzheide (220 Ml/yr) and Rostock (170 Ml/yr), and since 2008 in the Netherlands at its Rotterdam facility (450 Ml/yr). The sales of the group in 2008 were made mostly in Germany (51%) but also in other European countries (49%).
The German industrialist Verbio is positioned on both biodiesel and bioethanol markets. As far as biodiesel is concerned, it owns two production facilities in Germany, in Schwedt (280 Ml/yr) and Bitterfield (230 Ml/yr).
According to the EBB (European Biodiesel Board), the production capacity of biodiesel in the EU exceeded 23'500 Ml in 2008, for a total of 276 production facilities.
Bioethanol market
The European Union of Ethanol Producers (UEPA) brings together almost all European producers of agricultural ethanol, which supply all the industries using ethanol including the fuel-bioethanol. Thanks to its global approach of the sector, the UEPA works together with Community bodies to promote the development of bioethanol within the EU.
The European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBIO) brings together the majority of European bioethanol producers, but also institutions in the bioethanol industry (investment companies, producers of raw materials, technology providers, facility manufacturers, etc.).
The European fuel-bioethanol market is controlled by large groups and/or large agricultural cooperatives from the sugar and alcohol industry. The main actors are shown in the table below. The information is derived largely from the Biofuels Barometer, published by EurObserv'ER, and data of eBIO and UEPA.
Table: Main bioethanol producers in the EU (2006 data for the year 2005)
Abengoa Bioenergy, a biofuels subsidiary of the Abengoa group, is the European leader of fuel-bioethanol production (and is part of the main producers in the United States). The company owns three production facilities in Spain, Ecocarburantes Españoles (EE, 150 Ml/yr) in Cartagena, Bioetanol Galicia (BG, 180 Ml/yr) in Teixero and Biocarburantes Castilla y Leon (BCL, 200 Ml/yr) in Babilafuente. Since 2008, it also owns a production facility in France, Abengoa Bioenergy France (ABF, 250 Ml/yr), located in the petrochemical complex of Lacq (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). These four facilities together have a production capacity of 780 Ml/yr, to be compared with the 520 Ml which Abengoa Bioenergy distributed on the European market in 2008. A fifth facility located in Rotterdam (ABN, 480 Ml/yr) should be operational by the end of 2009. Two other units of identical capacity, currently in development, are to be set up in the United Kingdom in Immingham and in Germany in Rostock. The group also has significant production capacities in the United States (750 Ml/yr) and in Brazil (130 Ml/yr). Since the beginning of 2009, Abengoa Bioenergy also owns a biodiesel plant with a capacity of 220 Ml/yr, located in the Gibraltar refinery in San Roque, near Cadix (source : EurObserv'ER).
The French industrial group Tereos (result of the fusion of Union SDA and Beghin Say) converts sugarbeet, sugarcane and cereals, into sugar, starch-based products, alcohols, bioethanol and by-products for the animal feed industry and electricity production. The group's activity in fuel-bioethanol production is in full expansion. The commissioning of its facility in Lillebonne (300 Ml/yr) in 2007 enabled the group to reach a total production capacity of 770 Ml/yr in 2008, including the French units of Origny-Sainte-Benoîte, Bucy, Morains, Artenay, Lillers, and that of Amylum in Belgium. In 2008, the sales of bioethanol in the EU have reached 390 Ml, i.e. a doubling with respect to 2007. By way of its Brazilian subsidiary Guarani, Tereos also produced about 500 Ml of bioethanol in Brazil.
In 2008, the German group CropEnergies (member of the sugar group Südzucker) increased its fuel-bioethanol production capacities significantly, with a total of 760 Ml/yr out of three sites. The group's largest facility, located in Zeitz (360 Ml/yr) in Germany, is operated by its German subsidiary CropEnergies Bioethanol GmbH (formerly Südzucker Bioethanol GmbH). Operational since the end of 2008, the facility of Wanze (300 Ml/yr) in Belgium is operated by its Belgian subsidiary BioWanze. Finally, CropEnergies has developed its activities in France through the acquisition in 2008 of the French industrialist Ryssen Alcools, thereby adding a third production site in Loon-Plage (100 Ml/yr), near Dunkerque. In 2008, the group's production reached 460 Ml, i.e. an increase of about 80% with respect to 2007.
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