£1m investment helps Scottish distillery go green

A Scottish distillery is to receive a £1 million investment from the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to help it become more environmentally friendly.

The Balmenach Distillery has received a £1m investment to install a biomass boiler

The Balmenach Distillery in Speyside, Scotland, will use the money to replace its current heavy fuel oil boiler with a biomass boiler.

It is the third Scottish distiller to benefit from a £5 million fund for energy efficiency in distilleries from the GIB and private sector, which donates between £1 million and £1.5 million to each project.

Tomatin Distillery near Inverness and Aberfeldy Distillery in Perthshire were the first two recipients of the funding for biomass boilers, with Tomatin Distillery having reportedly already reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by around 80%.

“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,” said Rob Cormie, group operations director at the UK Green Investment Bank.

“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.”

The new boiler – used to generate the steam needed during the distillation process – is expected to reduce energy costs by almost a third and slash greenhouse gas emissions by 5,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to removing 2,200 cars from the road, according to the GIB.

Each distillery will repay the investment it has received from the savings it will make on its energy use.

“This latest investment will give a welcome boost to our most important export industry,” said Highland MP Danny Alexander.

“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.”