FDBusiness.com

Dairy products company Adams Foods is achieving impressive carbon performance at its new factory at Leek in Staffordshire, England, thanks to combined heat and power (CHP) technology. The 150kW CHP unit, supplied by sustainable power group ENER-G, is part of an environmental management programme at the factory. Since full commissioning of the CHP system in June 2010 it has achieved carbon savings of 476 tonnes, equivalent to the environmental benefit of 47,600 trees.

Adams Foods, which was formed when The Kerrygold Company merged with North Downs Dairy in October 2010, is the UK’s leading pre-packed cheese business, with 30% share of the UK retail market. Kerrygold Irish butter, which is sold in 60 countries globally, is marketed and distributed in the UK from the Staffordshire site.

150kW CHP unit from ENER-G.

The state-of-the-art factory and office complex, in Leek, was designed to be the most efficient and environmentally friendly cheese packing facility in Europe. Occupying 15,500 sq m, the new facility employs 550 people and operates 24 hours a day.

The ENER-G CHP system generates 150kW of electricity and provides 225kW of heat to pre-heat water for washing and cleaning.

CHP technology converts gas into both electricity and heat in a single process at the point of use. The technology works by generating electricity on-site and recovering the majority of the heat created in the process. Its high efficiency contrasts with conventional power stations where heat is lost into the atmosphere through power station cooling towers, and further losses occur when transmitting the electricity along many miles of electrical distribution cables to customers.

By using a CHP to generate electricity on site, Adams Foods can use the heat generated for its hot water requirements, while creating substantial carbon savings.

The CHP unit was acquired using ENER-G’s capital purchase scheme and features an ENER-G Premier maintenance contract that includes all services and call outs.

Adams Foods has also implemented a number of other energy saving techniques to reduce costs and lower carbon emissions. These include sun pipes, passive infra red (PIR) lighting controls, photovoltaic cells, and free cooling to the production hall using roof mounted air fans and inverter driven motors on pumps and fans.

The ENER-G Group is a leading distributed power generation and energy management company and its UK manufactured CHP systems reduce carbon emissions by around 20% while cutting electricity costs by approximately one third. They can be powered by natural gas, diesel, biodiesel, propane, biofuels or biogases.