Heineken fires up biomass plant

19 Nov 2009, 09:54

Heineken UK, formerly Scottish & Newcastle UK, has completed a £17.5m biomass power plant at Royal Brewery in Manchester.

The plant took two years to build and will burn locally sourced wood chip to generate steam and electricity. It is fitted with equipment to burn spent grain at a later date.

The amount of carbon produced at the Manchester brewery will be reduced by 15,000 tonnes a year, Heineken says.

The facility will be opened officially today by Lord Davies of Oldham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra. He will be joined by bosses from Heineken UK and Envirolink Northwest.

Nigel Blandford, development manager for biomass at Envirolink Northwest, said: "England's Northwest 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. Envirolink Northwest has assisted Heineken UK since the inception of the project and we will continue to support the company through the North West Biomass Project, which receives its finance from North West Development Agency and the Northwest Energy Council."

Your Comments

2 Comments Add Comment

I'll drink to that! Fantastic news - perhaps power companies will begin to take notice? This is great news for farmers and foresters.…

comment by George Macpherson | 20/11/2009 08:50:02

does anyone know what species of tree will go into the wood chip. And what price per hectare is mature 40 yr Sitka as chipped versus standing saw logs...…

comment by simon chaplin | 20/11/2009 11:29:02