Heineken is investing £25 million to install heat pumps in its Manchester brewery, as part of its efforts to decarbonise its UK sites by 2030.
The total investment includes a £3.7 million grant from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, which will be used to install technology to capture heat from various sources including refrigeration units and redistribute this across the site.
The heat energy will help power other brewing stages like mashing and pasteurisation and for washing returnable kegs. The business, which owns many household names like Foster’s, Strongbow, Birra Morreti and Cruzcampo, has estimated the change could help reduce gas use by around 45%.
Heineken also plans to decarbonise the brewhouse – this phase is set to take place in 2024, when the installation of the heat pump is due to be complete.
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Managing director Boudewijn Haarsma said that globally, the brand is looking to achieve net zero emissions across its production sites (scopes 1 and 2) by 2030:
“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,” he said.
He added: “This announcement is hugely positive and represents a sizeable inward investment from Heineken into UK decarbonisation. There’s been a brewery at this site for well over 100 years, and we’ve been proudly brewing in Manchester for fifteen years.”
“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.”
Minister for energy efficiency and green finance Lord Callanan commented that he’d be “certain to 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.”
