Planning Underway For Whiskey-Based Energy Plant
Power plant developer Helius Energy announced on Wednesday that it plans to work with the Combination of Rothes Distillers Ltd. to build a power plant that will run off of whiskey by-products.
Helius and CoRD have been given planning permission to begin building the power plant.
The new plant will generate 7.2 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 9,000 homes, saving about 46,642 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Electricity might be fed into the National Grid rather than used on site or throughout the local community.
"Not only will it generate renewable heat and power, but it secures additional markets for our distillery co-products," Frank Burns, general manager of the Combination of Rothes, said told Reuters.
The $48.11 million GreenSwitch plant will be built north of Rothes between Aberdeen and Inverness. It is expected to take between 18 and 24 months to complete.
Helius developed the so-called “GreenSwitch” technology, which will create energy using woodchip and by-products from the whiskey production process.
An additional plant, called “GreenFields,” will be built to process the liquid co-product of whisky production, known as Pot Ale, into a concentrated organic fertilizer for use by local farmers, Helius said.
The renewable energy project was awarded the “˜Best Environmental Initiative Award’ at the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2008 in December.
“This is a major milestone in the development of CoRD’s GreenSwitchâ„¢ project, and in Helius Energy’s wider plans for a pipeline of similar schemes. We look forward to working with CoRD to realize our vision for GreenSwitchâ„¢ and making Rothes a showcase for innovation and environmental responsibility within the Scottish whisky industry,” said John Seed, managing director of Helius Energy.
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