Bruichladdich Distillery on the island of Islay is at the forefront of decarbonising the whisky industry and aim to be net zero by 2025. Already one of only 3,500 B Corp certified companies in the world, and the first UK distillery to be granted this revered international certification, Bruichladdich is fully committed to sustainability.
Bruichladdich can now take a major step forward in their net zero ambitions having secured funding to pioneer innovative hydrogen combustion technology in their distilling process and make the move away from fuel oil.
Funding Success
The funding of £2.65m comes from the Green Distilleries Competition, funded through the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, and follows an initial feasibility study completed in early 2021. One of only four successful bids, this funding will allow Bruichladdich, its energy partner Protium with support from ITPEnergised, to install the zero-emission Jericho Energy Ventures Dynamic Combustion Chamber™ hydrogen boiler patented by Jericho Energy Ventures’ wholly owned subsidiary Hydrogen Technologies LLC and licenced to Protium’s subsidiary, Deuterium, as a mechanism to meet heating requirements.
Project HyLaddie
Project HyLaddie, as it’s known, must navigate the installation of state-of-the-art technology within a fully operational Victorian distillery. Hydrogen presents a significant opportunity for the whisky industry and the island of Islay itself, which currently uses fuel oil to meet its heating demand. Due to the remote location of many distilleries across Scotland, hydrogen implementation is a critical step forward in enabling producers to work towards net zero and in ensuring their operations can benefit from on‐site power sources, that are otherwise hindered by pre‐existing grid limitations.
ITPEnergised’s Role
ITPEnergised has been working with Bruichladdich since 2019 and Protium since early 2020. The competition for BEIS funding to explore the deployment of an innovative hydrogen technology was a perfect opportunity to bring together clients across our network and create a convincing technical proposition. ITPEnergised worked with the Protium team as a trusted adviser and critical friend in the development of the funding application, bringing our wide expertise on environmental and energy management in the whisky industry, process safety and compliance. We look forward to continuing to provide technical and environmental support throughout the project lifecycle, and securing the necessary consents for the new plant to operate.
Jonny Clark, MD of ITPEnergised comments “We have a long history of supporting the whisky industry, of working on low carbon technology projects for the benefit of Scottish island communities and innovation is one of our core values in the drive to net zero, so working with Bruichladdich and Protium on this ground breaking project has really got everyone in the team buzzing.’’
Douglas Taylor, CEO of Bruichladdich Distillery, comments, “Sustainability is in our DNA and is at the heart of everything we do. The funding for HyLaddie is a huge step towards our ambition of full decarbonisation and we can’t wait to bring the project to life with our partners at Protium. Many distilleries across Scotland are making serious steps forward in decarbonising their energy requirements, and we fully believe that hydrogen has a future in the Scotch industry. Our hope is that our proof of concept can extend to commercialisation across the island, and beyond, helping us hit the Scotch Whisky Association’s targets of net zero by 2040.”
Chris Jackson, CEO of Protium says “We’re thrilled to work together with Bruichladdich, one of our first Scottish clients, to decarbonise their distilling process and introduce hydrogen energy technology to the Isle of Islay. Not only can Bruichladdich and the Botanist implement this technology to act as a beacon for sustainability in the spirits industry, but their deep community ties across Islay present an exciting opportunity to mobilise an entire island as an example for decarbonisation across the globe.”
For more information, please contact Ruth Fain, Head of Corporate, Industrial & Manufacturing at ruth.fain@itpenergised.com.
