Energy

Green Investment Bank to fund biomass project at Scottish whisky distillery

Published

10 years ago

July 30, 2014

Blue & Green Tomorrow

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has announced its third investment into the Scottish distillery industry, unveiling plans for a biomass boiler in the Speysid’s Balmenach distillery in the Scottish Highlands, as part of a £5 million investment.

The project has so far involved other two distilleries, Tomatin near Inverness and Aberfeldy in Perthshire.

These, along with Balmenach will have their old oil-fuelled boilers replaced with biomass boilers, powered by wood pellets locally sourced by manufacturer Balcas, thanks to a £5 million funding provided by the bank.

Rob Cormie, group operations director at UK Green Investment Bank, said, “I am very pleased that we have been able to make another investment at a Scottish distillery, just a few weeks after we announced that we were making £5 million available to fund these investments.

“Projects like this provide a sustainable supply of renewable energy and save distilleries money and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. With limited capital investment, distilleries can save money from day one whilst also helping to meet the industry’s ambitious green targets.”

Highland MP Danny Alexander added, “This latest investment will give a welcome boost to our most important export industry. With continued investment in Highland distillers we can ensure that while the quality of the product remains high, the carbon footprint of production is low.”

The new boilers will help the distilleries cut energy costs by 30%, generating 18,000MWh heat per year – which cover all the facilities’ heating needs – and will save 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, equivalent to taking over 2,200 cars off the road.

Photo: Yves Jusot via flickr