Heineken UK has unveiled plans to invest £25 million in its Manchester brewery, aiming to incorporate heat pumps for the purpose of curbing carbon emissions.
The investment forms a crucial component of Heineken’s worldwide aspirations to achieve net zero emissions in scopes 1 and 2 by 2030, encompassing its production facilities in Manchester, Tadcaster, and Hereford in the UK, as well as addressing emissions across the entire value chain in scope 3 by 2040.
The investment package, comprising a £3.7 million grant from the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, will be utilized to implement cutting-edge technology aimed at capturing heat from diverse sources. One notable source is the on-site refrigeration units. The captured heat will be repurposed and distributed to power various brewing stages, including mashing, pasteurization, and the cleaning of returnable kegs.
Upon completion, the installation is projected to achieve a roughly 45% decrease in gas consumption at the site, consequently reducing carbon emissions. This technological advancement marks a significant milestone in the brewery’s commitment to curbing its carbon footprint. Previously, gas was relied upon to generate the necessary heat for specific stages of the brewing process.
Boudewijn Haarsma, MD at Heineken UK, said, “We’ve been around for 150 years, and if we want to be here in another 150 years, we need to act now to deliver on our sustainability ambitions…This announcement is hugely positive and represents a sizeable inward investment from Heineken into UK decarbonisation. It builds on our wider company-wide efforts to reduce our emissions as we continue to work towards our global ambitions to reach net zero across our production sites (scope 1 and 2) by 2030. We will not get there alone, we know collaboration with partners will be key.”
“With the city of Manchester’s ambition to reach net zero by 2038, we want to play our part in this journey for the city and its people, and to share the learnings we gather along the way,” he added.
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said, “Heat pumps are key to helping us to decarbonise our heating, and I’m delighted to see government funding go towards such an innovative scheme that will help cut emissions and show other businesses how to move away from costly fossil fuels.”
The brewery produces over seven hundred million pints of Heineken, Birra Moretti and Foster’s per year, and already uses electricity exclusively from renewable sources, as well as being the first Heineken site globally to roll out the ‘Green Grip’ cardboard toppers to replace plastic rings in 2020.
According to Heineken, it is the first beverage company of this scale in the UK to install this technology.
