HEINEKEN UK has announced plans to invest £25 million into its Manchester brewery to incorporate heat pumps aimed at reducing the facility’s carbon emissions as part of the groups efforts to decarbonise its UK production sites by 2030.
The project will unfold in several stage with the initial stage involving the installation of heat pumps, which is expected to be completed by 2024. The installed heat pumps, powered by renewable electricity, will function as an interconnected heat network throughout the site, from brewing to packaging.
The final stage will involve the use of additional renewable energy, plans for which are currently under discussion. The move aligns with HEINEKEN’s worldwide goals to achieve net zero emissions in scopes 1 and 2 by 2030, inclusive of its UK production facilities in Manchester, Tadcaster and Hereford, and across the full value chain (scope 3) by 2040.
The investment includes a £3.7 million grant from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero and, will be allocated towards the incorporation of technology designed to capture heat from various sources such as the on-site refrigeration units. The captured heat will then be repurposed and reused to power other stages of the brewing process, including mashing, pasteurisation and even washing returnable kegs.
Boudewijn Haarsma, Managing Director at HEINEKEN UK says: “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. In short, we want to brew a better world.
“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.
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, added, “I’ll certainly raise a glass in honour of this game changing project backed by government funding that will help Heineken, Manchester and the country reach our collective net zero ambitions.
“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.”
