Beer maker Heineken UK has launched a £17.5m biomass plant using locally sourced wood at its Royal Brewery, Manchester.
The development, coupled with a matching £17.5m investment at its John Smith’s Brewery in Tadcaster, makes it one of the largest single investments in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK.
Construction of the plants started in 2007 and they became fully operational in October. Designed to produce 37,000MWh of electricity annually, the plants will supply all the company’s power requirements, with excess being sold back to the National Grid.
The combined plants will reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 21,650 cars off the road per year or cutting the emissions from 5,000 homes.
“England’s north-west boasts the best biomass fuel supply chain in the UK, therefore establishing a biomass energy plant in this region has clear advantages for Heineken UK,” said Nigel Blandford, of Envirolink Northwest.
