Whisky industry tackles environmental headache

Using the words "green" and "whisky" in the same sentence is usually associated with the description of a particularly severe hangover, but that could all be about to change after plans for a £35m biomass power plant backed by a coalition of Scottish distillers was given the go-ahead this week.

Moray Council granted planning permission to the proposed plant, which will be based in the heart of the Scottish whisky industry in Speyside.

Jointly developed by The Combination of Rothes Distillers (Cord) and biomass plant specialist Helius Energy, the combined heat and power (CHP) facility will use a combination of distillery by-products and wood chips to generate an estimated 7.2MW of electricity.

"Not only will it [the biomass plant] generate renewable heat and power, but it secures additional markets for our distillery co-products and helps to ensure the sustainability of malt whisky distilling on Speyside," said Cord general manager, Frank Burns.

As well as using by-products from the distillery process to generate power, the developers are also planning a so-called Greenfields plant alongside the biomass plant, which will turn a liquid by-product of the distilling process known as Pot Ale into an organic fertiliser for use by local farmers.

The backers are still assessing whether the energy generated by the plant will be used at the site by the distillers – the plant will be located adjacent to their existing operations – or used to power a potential 9,000 local homes. The facilities are expected to take 18 to 24 months to construct.

According to Helios, Rothes is the first five to eight megawatt facility to make use of its GreenSwitch technology – a modular biomass power station design capable of utilising wet biomass, which the company plans to locate beside existing industries that produce suitable liquid feedstocks, such as distilleries and breweries.

The Combination of Rothes Distillers was founded in 1904 to process the Pot Ale produced by the whisky distilleries in the Rothes area. It is owned by a group of distilling companies – comprising The Edrington Group, Chivas Brothers, Glen Grant Distillery, Inver House Distillers, Diageo and Benriach Distillery Co.

The project is one of a number of biomass initiatives pursued by the brewing industry in recent months.

Last summer, drinks giant Diageo announced a £65m biomass plant in Cameronbridge in Fife, which the company claims will be "the largest single investment in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK" and is expected to reduce annual CO2 emissions at the site by approximately 56,000 tonnes.