THE firm behind a £250m mothballed refinery’s revival says the plant is primed to bolster its financial returns.

CropEnergies says the Ensus bioenthanol plant, in Wilton, near Redcar, stands ready to operate at full capacity after months of delays.

Work was postponed last year when the sluggish oil price compounded plummeting bioethanol values.

However, after carrying out a number of successful trial runs over the summer to improve reliability, officials say Ensus can play a pivotal role in future operations.

Ensus uses wheat to create bioethanol, which is added to petrol, with the remaining protein and grain used to make animal feed and carbon dioxide for the soft drink and food markets every year.

Its resurgence marks another fresh dawn for the site after a chequered history pockmarked by delays, and bosses now say the refinery can push full-year revenues for 2016/2017 as high as £617m.

Previous estimates hinted they could stand at £549m.

Officials added earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected at around £99m, with its operating result estimated to be around £69m.

A spokeswoman for Germany’s CropEnergies, which runs Ensus as a UK subsidiary, told The Northern Echo: “The tests at Wilton have been concluded successfully and we now have our entire production capacity available again.

“The modifications improve stability and energy efficiency, which allows for production capacity of the group to be operated according to market conditions and the order situation.

“Against this background, we have increased our forecast for revenues.”

The Ensus site has endured a difficult history, with low demand, poor harvests, rising energy costs and even a bad smell forcing postponements and hindering production since it started in 2010.

The base has been offline following a pause in production in February last year and a number of its 100-strong team were previously let go amid the uncertainty.