By ALEXIS FLYNN

LONDON -- BP’s planned biofuels refinery in Hull will be commissioned later this year, executive director Byron Grote said Thursday.

BP is developing a bio-refinery in the north eastern English city to produce ethanol through its Vivergo Fuels venture with DuPont and British Sugar.

"The Hull ethanol facility will be commissioned later this year," said Grote, who was addressing a shareholder question at BP's annual general meeting.

When operational, the plant will have capacity to produce 420 million liters of ethanol and 500,000 tons of high protein animal feed from 1 million tons of locally grown wheat.

BP has said Vivergo could supply over 30% of UK ethanol requirements under its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.

Dow Jones Newswires