Heineken UK investing £25m into Manchester brewery after Government grant

Beer producer Heineken has announced plans to invest £25m into its brewery in Manchester as the brand looks to cut carbon emissions.

The investment will fund the installation of heat pumps at the site and use of additional renewable energy.

Of the £25m earmarked for the project, £3.7m came via a grant from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

The heat pumps, which are designed to capture waste heat and then reuse it elsewhere in the brewing process, should be in place by 2024, while the plans for increased renewable energy use remain in discussion.

Heineken’s Manchester brewery employs almost 250 people and produces pints of Heineken, Birra Moretti and Foster’s.

Heineken needs to act on sustainability

Heineken UK managing director Boudewijn Haarsma said that the brand needed to act now if it was able to meet its sustainability goals.

“This announcement is hugely positive and represents a sizeable inward investment from Heineken into UK decarbonisation​,” Haarsma added.

“It builds on our wider company-wide efforts to reduce our emissions as we continue to work towards our global ambitions to reach net zero across our production sites (scope 1 and 2) by 2030. We will not get there alone, we know collaboration with partners will be key​.”

Game changing project

Minister for energy efficiency and green finance Lord Callanan described the investment as a “game changing project​” that will benefit both Heineken and the city of Manchester.

“Heat pumps are key to helping us to decarbonise our heating and I’m delighted to see government funding go towards such an innovative scheme that will help cut emissions and show other businesses how to move away from costly fossil fuels​,” the Conservative MP added.

In other news, PepsiCo has announced it will power its UK potato trucks using cooking oil in a bid to reduce emissions​​.