Scotch whisky turns green

The Combination of Rothes Distillers (CoRD), a whisky by-product company owned by several distilleries in north east Scotland, has gone into partnership with Helius Energy Plc to develop a £50 million renewable energy scheme. The scheme will use whisky distillery by-products to fuel a 7.2 megawatt (MW) biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant and a process plant that will turn the liquid co-product of whisky production, known as Pot Ale, into a concentrated organic fertiliser and an animal feed for use by local farmers.

As well saving more than 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from the region's distillery industry, the scheme will generate enough electricity to power 9,000 homes, according to the joint venture company Helius CoRDe.

Under the model for the scheme, the process plant will be powered by electricity from the CHP unit. The CHP plant, meanwhile, will be fuelled with a combination of processed distillery co-products produced by the process plant and woodchips from sustainable sources.

John Seed, managing director of Helius Energy, said the model had the potential to be rolled-out elsewhere. "I’m delighted to be moving forward with a truly innovative project. Biomass will play a major role in meeting the UK’s targets for emissions reductions. Drinking green whisky may give you a warm glow but it’ll also help to avoid warming the planet," he commented.

Frank Burns, general manager of CoRD, added: "The ability to generate renewable heat and power and secure additional markets for our distillery co-products is a very exciting development for the malt whisky industry on Speyside.”

Under the agreement, Helius Energy plc will own 51 per cent of the joint venture company while the Combination of Rothes Distillers will control the remaining 49 per cent.

The partnership anticipates that engineering and construction contracts will be awarded shortly, with construction due to begin in early 2010 for two years, generating between 20 and 100 jobs.