Notice

IETF Phase 2, Spring 2022: competition winners

Updated 15 May 2024

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Project ID 22010 - Breedon Cement Limited

IETF grant offered: £231,699
Project costs: £463,400
Location: Hope, Derbyshire
Study Competition: Breedon Cement CCS

The UK mineral products sector produces 400 Mt of aggregates, industrial minerals and manufactured mineral products every year. As part of this, over a third of the cement and lime that is produced in the UK is manufactured by four operations located in and around the Peak District. As a result, cement and lime production is the largest single contributor to industrial CO2 emissions across Derbyshire, representing 31% of the total CO2 emissions in the region.

Decarbonisation of this industry is critical due to the strategically important nature of cement. The concrete made from cement is essential to delivering new homes, schools, hospitals, workplaces, roads and railways, as well as the infrastructure that provides us with clean water, sanitation and energy. The UK is largely self-sufficient in these materials - over 95% of UK concrete is produced locally. Support from the IETF now will enable the development of low carbon products, thus future proofing the cement industry for years to come.

It is estimated that 61% of required emissions reductions to achieve net zero across the cement sector needs to come from carbon capture and storage (CCS). In the production of both cement and lime, the majority of the CO2 is a direct consequence of processing the limestone raw material and this can only be abated by carbon capture, transport and storage. Carbon neutrality, or better, at the production stage can be achieved with a high proportion of biomass or other zero carbon fuel in the fuel mix combined with carbon capture.

Breedon’s Hope cement works emits over 1 Mt of CO2 per year. There are significant technological challenges associated with capture of a complex gas stream in such volume, as well as subsequent transportation to a suitable storage facility. Therefore, this project consists of 2 main elements:

i) CCS feasibility study
ii) Connecting pipeline feasibility study

The project aims to significantly advance knowledge of the infrastructure required by Derbyshire’s cement and lime plants to achieve a low carbon future. The feasibility studies will explore the implementation of carbon capture technologies at Hope, including a technology vendor option appraisal, site utilities integration review, pipeline feasibility engineering, and preliminary capture plant design, culminating in a detailed feasibility report. This project will be 50% funded by Breedon and the match-funded support from the IETF will reduce project risks, enabling a baseline definition for entry into FEED to be secured which could ultimately support the permanent installation of such technology at Hope.

Dr Edward Cavanagh, Breedon, Hope Cement Works Manager, said: “Understanding the possibilities of CCS for a site such as the Hope Cement Works, deep within the Peak District National Park, will not just facilitate a major breakthrough for the operation but also assist with ensuring that significant steps continue to be taken against the sectorial roadmap for net zero carbon cement production.”

Project ID 22011 - Pioneer Foods (UK) Limited

IETF grant offered: £136,417
Project costs: £329,561
Location: Peterborough
Energy Efficiency Deployment Competition: Energy efficiency improvements of low temperature ovens

Project background

Pioneer Foods (UK) Ltd is a leading cereal manufacturer in the UK, producing breakfast cereals and healthy fruit snacks. Focussing on one of its manufacturing facilities in the UK, the Peterborough site produces a variety of granola based products for major retailers and brands in the UK and Europe. With an ambition to reach net zero in the coming years, Pioneer Foods are continuously implementing projects to improve energy efficiency, optimise processes and reduce carbon emissions. Following an initial feasibility report by Envirya in 2021 through a successful IETF grant application, Pioneer Foods have joined up with their energy engineering partners to implement a process optimisation project on our Ovens.

How the project works

The aim of the project is to maximise the energy efficiency of the industrial drying process through well established technologies that can be retrofitted to the pre-existing ovens to reduce overall gas consumption and carbon emissions. The technologies to be implemented on the 3 ovens include;

• burner replacement - improved firing range and combustion efficiency
• heat recovery - to preheat combustion air entering the burner
• damper control – minimise heat loss from oven zones
• high efficiency motors – reduce circulating fan baseload with improved control

Impact of grant funding

With the support from IETF grant funding, Pioneer Foods have successfully been able to execute energy saving projects towards their net zero commitments. Due to increasing cost of fuel and grains, investment in decarbonisation has become more difficult. Without funding, the project would have been limited to focusing on one oven only, implementing burner replacement only to provide the quickest payback. With CapEx funding from IETF, Pioneer Foods have been able to target projects on all 3 ovens, increasing overall process efficiency.

Expected outcome

Following the implementation of the burners, heat recovery, damper control and High efficiency motors, it is expected that the overall carbon savings from the project will be in excess of 326 tCO2e per year. This will drastically improve the efficiency of the process whilst demonstrating flexibility, repeatability and scalability for other industrial low temperature processes. This will truly highlight the benefits to retrofitting to existing low temperature thermal processes, outlining the potential barriers and how these can be practically overcome.

Project ID 22015 - Lhoist UK Limited

IETF grant offered: £92,481
Project costs: £184,962
Location: Buxton, Derbyshire
Study Competition: Lhoist decarbonisation study

Lhoist Group is a leader in lime, dolime and minerals. With headquarters in Belgium, they are present in 25 countries with more than 100 facilities around the globe. It differentiates its business by being close to its customers, understanding their needs and providing them with the high-quality products their activities require. It is a family owned firm originating within Belgium in 1889, but now involving 6,400 employees worldwide and over 50 nationalities.

Within the UK one of its facilities is the Hindlow plant, near Buxton in Derbyshire.  The Hindlow plant manufactures high-quality lime, hydrated lime and other materials for a range of applications – chemical, environment, building, civil engineering, gas treatment and water.

Lhoist is pleased that this plant is part of the ‘Peak Cluster’ project alongside other industrial partners and Progressive Energy.  This project builds on the significant effort already undertaken as part of HyNet to envisage CO2 capture on an industrial scale for sites a little further from the original coastal cluster.  The funding supports additional study around the feasibility of carbon capture at Hindlow, combining that with other facilities and using a pipeline solution to safely convey the emissions for underground storage in the Irish Sea.

Andrew Jackson, Energy Strategy and Transition Director, Europe, said: “Lhoist is delighted to be a recipient of IETF funding from DESNZ and looks forward to developing the project further. This sort of project is completely aligned with our carbon roadmap, promoting the sustainable manufacture of high-quality industrial lime at Hindlow in Derbyshire for decades to come and we are excited for it to become a reality.”

Project ID 22022 – Kellogg Company of Great Britain Limited

IETF grant offered: £19,000
Project costs: £39,145
Location: Wrexham, Wales
Study Competition: Heat recovery on process ovens and dryers in cereal manufacturing

Kellogg’s plant in Wrexham has been manufacturing breakfast cereals since the late 1970s. The process of cereal manufacturing is energy intensive and it requires large volumes of natural gas to cook, dry and toast the cereal at high temperatures. In this feasibility study, the company is assessing the possibility of recovering the waste heat from these processes to reduce the overall gas demand.

The problem is challenging due to various constraints and operational requirements of the process, for example, the ability to operate the dryers independent of the rest of the process for flexibility in production. Additionally, the dryers cannot be operated independent from the process and so operation times are fixed to a certain window. The physical distance between the dryers and the ovens would also require consideration and detailed engineering design in order to implement a heat exchanger network. The resulting solution would aim to utilise the waste heat generated by the process and increase the energy efficiency of the overall process.

The aims of this feasibility study are to identify opportunities for energy savings and carbon reduction and gain a reasonable understanding of risks, costs of investments and resources required for the selected solutions.

The IETF feasibility study grant, combined with match-funding from the company’s funds, will cover the cost of this study. The project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly and generate financial savings, which will mitigate to some extent the rising costs of energy and meet the objective of the company’s carbon-neutral targets. In conjunction with the IETF, the company are working towards its carbon-zero aspirations.

Phil Makin, Technical Development Manager, said: “The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is enabling our Wrexham site to unlock future sustainability savings and benefits, whilst driving down our overall carbon footprint and helping towards Kellogg’s 2030 carbon neutral target.”

Project ID 22028 - Naylor Industries PLC

IETF grant offered: £73,100
Project costs: £152,690
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Study Competition: Feasibility study into the viability of using waste heat recovery and development of an approach to redeploy the waste thermal energy to maximise the energy efficiency

Naylor Drainage’s plant in Cawthorne, Barnsley, has been manufacturing specialised clay pipes and other construction products since the last 130 years. The process of clay pipe manufacturing is very energy intensive, and it requires large volumes of natural gas to first dry the clay pipes and then bake them at high temperatures in specially designed kilns. In this feasibility study, the company is assessing the possibility of utilising the waste heat from the exhaust gases of the kilns to offset the gas demand of the dryers as well as to produce electricity from the heat, which would have otherwise been wasted.

The problem is challenging due to various constraints and operational requirements of the process, for example the ability to operate the dryers independent of the kilns for flexibility in production, the physical distances between the heat sources and sinks, the distributed nature of heat from multiple kilns, access requirements, etc. and would require careful consideration, engineering design and a bespoke solution. The aims of this feasibility study are to identify opportunities for energy savings and carbon reduction and gain a reasonable understanding of risks, costs of investments and resources required for the selected solutions.

The IETF feasibility study grant, combined with match-funding from Naylor’s corporate funds, will cover the cost of this project. The project is expected to provide significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and savings on its gas consumption upon completion and will provide some level of immunity from rising gas prices.

The company have thus appointed Hallam Energy at Sheffield Hallam University as expert subcontractors to lead this study. Hallam Energy is led by its Director, Dr Abhishek Asthana, who has delivered 65 industrial efficiency and decarbonisation projects, including 5 IETF projects. Hallam Energy are carrying out an in-depth techno-economic study involving the testing, analysis of heat sources and sinks, engineering design and specification and financial modelling of the proposed investment.

Alex Farrer, Group EHS Officer, Naylor Industries, said: “We are keen to operate in a sustainable manner for our planet and play our part in reaching the national net zero emissions target by 2050. We would like to lead the way on energy efficiency and decarbonisation for the ceramic industry in the UK. The IETF grant from DESNZ is a vital resource for industries like ours which have limited disposable funds but are keen to convert our environmental ambitions into practical action through this ambitious project.”

Project ID 22052 - Basell Polyolefins UK Ltd

IETF grant offered: £1,122,686
Project costs: £3,207,676
Location: Manchester
Energy Efficiency Deployment Competition: Heat integration project

Purpose of the project

The purpose of the Heat Integration project at Carrington is to reduce steam consumption on the polypropylene plant by harnessing heat from a vapour steam that would otherwise be wasted. Therefore, reducing natural gas usage need to produce steam via the site boilers by 30% and therefore a considerable cost reduction. From a sustainability perspective, over 4000t of CO2 will be saved annually.

How the project works

The heat integration project technology is to be installed on the Polypropylene plant which has a propylene recycle system downstream of the main reactor. Liquid propylene is vaporised using low pressure steam in the exchanger with the largest steam demand on site in order to be able to separate polymer solid from propylene vapour. In the propane rejection column reboiler, propane is vaporised using low pressure steam in the exchanger with the second largest steam demand on site.

The heat integration scheme is proposed to utilise the sensible and latent heat available in the propylene recycle vapour stream to provide the heat duty of the propane rejection column reboiler. This will prevent the need for steam to be utilised on the column reboiler the vast majority of the time.

A scheme of piping system modifications together with a new reboiler and flowmeters will be installed as part of this project with associated control and safety system changes.

How the project will be funded

The project will be funded 65% by Basell Polyolefins UK Ltd, which is part of LyondellBasell, with 35% being funded by the UK government.

What the investment will help to unlock

The project is a step change for the site from a sustainability perspective and it allows the plant do make real headway in meeting its environmental goals for CO2 emissions. The government investment has really helped in making the IRR and payback for the project extremely attractive which can sometimes be challenging for sustainability projects with relatively high initial investment. A reduction in natural gas consumption will help the Carrington plant, and the UK as a whole to remain competitive in the production of polypropylene against plants in other countries, and protect and improve margin in what is a very competitive industry.

Ludovic Museur, Site Manager Carrington / Director of Basell Polyolefins UK Limited, said: “Lyondellbasell’s Carrington site is fully engaged to reduce its energy consumption to sustain our activity that delivers customers’ needs, and address climate change by reducing our CO2 footprint. That is why we are really thankful to IETF to have granted us with a subsidy that makes the implementation of the heat integration project possible. This project will not only reduce natural gas consumption by 30% but also abate the total site CO2 emissions by 20%, making a real step change.”

Project ID 22017 – Cargill PLC

IETF grant offered: £1,038,853
Project costs: £2,968,150
Location: Manchester
Energy Efficiency Deployment Competition: Convert falling film steam evaporator on glucose channel to use mechanical vapour recompression

Cargill is a global company with more than 155 years of experience, working in over 70 countries with 155,000 employees. The main purpose of the company is to connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, people, and animals with the food they need to thrive. Cargill combine experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial, and industrial customers in more than 125 countries.

The company was founded in USA in 1865 and has been operating in the UK since 1955. Within the UK there are now 20 locations that make up Cargill PLC, one of which is Manchester. The plant of Cargill Manchester in Trafford Park is part of the Food Ingredients and Bioindustrial business unit. The site uses wheat as the raw material to produce glucose syrups, ethanol and other by-products including gluten and bran. Glucose manufacture has taken place on the site since 1911 but has been owned by Cargill when Cargill’s acquisition of Cerestar was completed. The site operates a large CHP plant fulfilling steam and electricity requirements for the plant and exporting excess electricity to the grid.

The final production stage of Cargill Manchester’s glucose refining Channel 1 uses a falling film evaporator to increase the dry solid content of the glucose before it is blended to a customer recipe and loaded for transportation. Energy modelling and pinch analysis carried out on the glucose refinery has identified a potential opportunity to reduce energy and CO2 emissions by switching to an alternative established technology.

The project proposal is to convert the existing 4 stage falling film evaporator to utilise mechanical vapour recompression to achieve the required evaporation. In principle the project encompasses switching from thermal to electric energy via electric heat pump technology. Installing 2 fans will recompress and circulate the heat vapours around the evaporator to be used as the heating medium. This negates the need for continuous steam addition throughout the evaporation process and will lead to steam reduction. The addition of power consumption from the new installed fans is netted off and results in an overall reduction in natural gas and an associated reduction of CO2 emissions.

A company spokesperson said: “This project wouldn’t go ahead without the IETF funding as it does not give a good financial return and does not meet the internal project payback threshold required to obtain CAPEX funding from Cargill.”

Project ID 22058 - Ingevity UK Ltd

IETF grant offered: £2,622,157
Project costs: £4,370,262
Location: Warrington
Deep Decarbonisation Deployment Competition: Steam boiler project hydrogen fuelling

Ingevity’s Warrington site manufactures a family of specialty chemicals known as Polycaprolactones, used in both polyurethane CASE applications (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants and Elastomers) and thermoplastic applications such as bioplastics and medical. Manufacture of these Ingevity products uses energy in the form of steam, which is currently supplied by 2 natural gas fired boilers.

The project, supported by the IETF grant, is to replace the current boiler systems at the plant with new natural gas fuelled boilers outfitted to be able to convert to hydrogen fuel at a future date. Estimated by the manufacturer to enable a 4.3% improvement in energy efficiency, installation of new boilers will support the company’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint for its caprolactone products and provide additional opportunity for future decarbonisation through the use of hydrogen.

The existing boilers, operated by a third party, have been in operation since 1995 and due to poor reliability and expensive maintenance costs, are at the end of their economic life. Ingevity is making the investment in the new boiler system and IETF funding will enable the site upgrades needed to futureproof the boilers for conversion to hydrogen.

“Ingevity’s mission is to purify, protect and enhance the world around us,” said Steve Hulme, senior vice president and president, Advanced Polymer Technologies at Ingevity. “We are excited to install upgrades that optimise operational efficiency and support sustainability efforts, and further expand our positive impact on our planet beyond the benefits derived from the use of our products.”

Three new natural gas fuelled boilers will be installed, with space provided for the retrospective installation of any equipment to allow hydrogen fuelling. The boilers will be made hydrogen ready through the installation of a new hydrogen let down station and other equipment on the boilers themselves. Upon commissioning of the three new boilers by Ingevity, the existing steam plant will be mothballed and then demolished.

The new boiler system will also include capacity for a fourth boiler, should this be required in future years or following the fuel switch. Output from a fourth boiler would add capacity and mitigate risk for any downrating of maximum steam production if the system switches to 100% hydrogen fuelling, an expected output reduction indicated by the boiler manufacturer. The fourth boiler would be located in the same building and supply the same manufacturing plants as the other 3 boilers.

Project ID 22008 - Cemineral Limited

IETF grant offered: £355,431
Project costs: £1,870,689
Location: Immingham, Lincolnshire
Deep decarbonisation deployment competition: CO2 reduction in the conveyance and processing of cement products

Cemineral Limited is a supplier of cement products in the UK. The company supplies products to make a wide variety of applications especially for use in precast concrete, housing and infrastructure.

The company operates from 5 locations, including its major import and processing hub at Immingham docks. The company invests heavily in R&D and provides a number of low carbon alternatives to ordinary Portland cement for its customers.

In line with its decarbonisation strategy, the company is investing £1.8 million at Immingham to convert its conveyance and processing systems to electric power - 86% of this investment is coming from company reserves, with the balance supported by the IETF scheme.

As a result of the investment, Immingham will convert to electric power, significantly reducing the carbon footprint involved in conveying and processing of material.

Richard Archer, Operations and Supply Chain Director for Cemineral, commented: “We are fully committed to the belief that the future of our industry depends on its ability to decarbonise. This significant investment ensures that not only our products have a lower embodied CO2, but we are also reducing the impact on the environment of processing, storage and transportation.”

Project ID 22019 - Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery Limited

IETF grant offered: £1,697,046
Project costs: £6,788,188
Location: Immingham, Lincolnshire
Energy efficiency deployment competition: PLOR crude distillation unit combined pre-flash vessel and heat integration enhancement

The Prax Group is a leading British, independent energy conglomerate, headquartered in London. The Group aims to provide the highest standards in products and services, and manages its activities to minimise, wherever practicable, their effect on the environment.

Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery is critical infrastructure, providing the fuels needed to keep the UK moving and sits at the heart of the Group’s integrated vision.

The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) aims to reduce energy costs and emissions for UK industry in the near-term and to bring down costs and risks of industrial decarbonisation technologies through demonstration. At Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery in particular, the IETF Grant Award will contribute to the installation of a pre-flash vessel at the CDU-2 hot crude Preheat Train (PHT) and two heat exchangers at the front of the crude PHT. Overall, the proposed improvements will yield a total fuel saving of >36% of CDU-2 annual energy consumption, while also offering a corresponding CO2 saving of ~9% of the CDU-2 refining process annual emissions and >1% of the site’s annual emissions, with the added side benefit of improving salt removal performance and minimising corrosion.

Edmund Stobseth-Brown, Acting General Manager at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, said: “At Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery, we are progressing with the development of a next generation, low carbon refinery that can continue to provide the products the UK requires for decades to come.

“With the grant funding support from the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the development of our pre-Flash Project continues to move forward at pace. The energy sector is seeing transformational change and as one of the key CO2 emitters in the Humber Industrial Cluster, we are committed to improving the energy efficiency of our assets, reducing our emissions and working with our regional and national partners to meet our collective environmental goals for the region. We will continue to drive innovation at the refinery, providing the site, our employees, and our customers with a very bright future.”

Project ID 03613 - WEPA

IETF grant offered: £1,936,203
Project costs: £7,713,958
Location: Maesteg, South Wales
*Energy efficiency deployment competition: Jupiter energy efficiency project

Purpose of the project

WEPA UK is one of the leading suppliers of household paper in the country, manufacturing own label toilet paper products for the majority of the UK’s major multiple retailers. WEPA’s main focus is the production of private label household tissue, cleaning and related products.

WEPA is committed to decarbonising Bridgend Paper Mill and this IETF support is a catalyst for major investment in the main paper-making machine called ‘Jupiter’. The machine produces ‘parent’ reels – commonly weighing several tonnes – which are converted into consumer-ready products (mostly rolls or sheets) at the converting process on site.

The main motivations for this project include:

• installing new energy efficient equipment to help reduce carbon emissions in line with the science-based targets initiative (SBTI) and the Paris climate change agreement
• improve production quality and improve yield
• future proof the plant

WEPA has ~300 employees across all functions of its UK business, reporting into the WEPA Group headquarters based in Arnsberg, Germany.

How the project works

The areas of the plant that are being upgraded:

• new high efficiency motors will be deployed across the plant
• new vacuum system to increase the electrical efficiency and improve process control
• energy efficient paper line equipment improving drying and electrical efficiency

How the project is being funded

The project will be funded 74% by WEPA UK Ltd, with 26% being funded by the UK government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF).

What investment the funding will help to unlock

The grant has the potential to be the catalyst that unlocks a further £5-10 million investment in the plant.

Expected outcomes

In simple terms, this delivers significant energy and carbon savings. A reduction of site electricity and gas consumption of approximately 11% achieving around 7.5% reduction in scope 1 & 2 CO2 emissions.

Richard Lewis, Energy & Environment Manager, WEPA UK Ltd, said: “WEPA UK has welcomed the IETF grant offer from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, as this is a step in the right direction on the decarbonisation journey and long term sustainability vision of the business. The IETF funding has enabled us to unlock the opportunity to increase the energy efficiency on an existing production line, namely Jupiter, which in turn will reduce the carbon footprint of the operation.”

Project ID 22029 – Digital Realty Limited

IETF grant offered: £735,535
Project costs: £4,364,581
Location: Woking, Surrey
Energy efficiency deployment competition: LGW14 Chiller plant upgrade and free cooling utilisation

The purpose of this project is to increase the energy efficiency of the chilled water plant that provides chilled water to cool four data halls in the LGW14 data centre.

The current chilled water plant serving the data halls consists of standard air-cooled chillers with a Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 3.0 (less efficient compared to current market availability), which provide chilled water at 8°C to the computer room air handling units (CRAH) that cool the servers in each data hall. The chillers run throughout the year 24/7, regardless of ambient air temperature. The currently employed standard air-cooled chillers use reciprocating compressors to provide the chilled water necessary for the data hall CRAHs.

This project is to replace existing inefficient chillers with efficient free-cooling chillers. Free-cooling chillers are able to provide chilled water to the data centre without continuously running compressors when the outside temperature is close to the desired chilled water temperature setpoint. This allows the chillers to cut down on energy consumption at low ambient temperatures, which in London would be 30-50% of annual operating hours. Additionally, the COP of the new chillers is 3.5 which is an efficiency improvement over the existing system.

This project is expected to save 4341 MWh/yr or 920 tCO2e/year in carbon across all 4 data halls, which is an estimated 40-50% energy saving at the chilled water plant, on average. Overall, this will improve the Power Utilization Effectiveness (PUE) of the data halls and the data centre as a whole.

This project is funded internally by Digital Realty through its Infrastructure-Upgrade-Project funding. However, this project was originally proposed in 2021, but funding was denied in the last budget cycle because it did not meet RoI thresholds and equipment has approximately 8-10 years from end-of-life. Additionally, the facility is a low utility cost site for most data halls, meaning Digital Realty is not liable for utility costs, but rather the data hall customers pay for electricity. Therefore, energy cost savings made from increased energy efficiency will be returned to the customers, not Digital Realty.

A company spokesperson said: “The IETF funding assisted in making the financial case to gain approval for the project to be implemented and achieve significant energy savings.”

Project ID 22009 - Tarmac Cement and Lime Limited

IETF grant offered: £245,428
Project costs: £490,856
Location: Buxton, Derbyshire
Study competition: Tunstead decarbonisation study

About Tarmac

Tarmac, a CRH company, is a leading UK sustainable building materials and construction solutions business. With a long history of innovation, Tarmac directly employs around 6,000 people across a nationwide network of over 350 sites. Its solutions span aggregates, asphalt, cement, lime, readymix concrete, offsite manufacture, road contracting, highways maintenance and infrastructure services, building products and recycling services.

Tarmac and its parent company, CRH, has an ambition to reach net zero by 2050. CRH has set an industry-leading target to reduce absolute CO₂ emissions across the Group by 30% by 2030 (from a 2021 baseline). The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated CRH’s near-term science-based carbon emissions reduction targets in line with a 1.5°C pathway.

About the project

Tarmac’s Tunstead site, based in Buxton, Derbyshire, is the largest producer of lime in the UK. It is also home to the newest cement plant and largest limestone quarry in the UK.

The decarbonisation feasibility study has been funded by Tarmac Cement & Lime with support from the Industrial Emissions Transformation Fund (IETF). The results of the study will provide Tarmac with vital information to identify opportunities to further decarbonise the industrial cement and lime processes at Tunstead. It will also identify potential areas for site investment and the best pathways to continued success. Through accelerating existing decarbonisation programmes and investing in new technologies, Tarmac is driving the transition towards net zero.

David Wilson, senior manager – decarbonisation, cement and lime at Tarmac, said: “We are proud to be part of this project and greatly appreciate the support from the Industrial Emissions Transformation Fund. As the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solutions business, we recognise the need for change and the scale of the challenges facing us and our industry.

“We are continuously focused on advancing the performance of our business with sustainability front and centre, as we accelerate the delivery of sustainable solutions for customers that build, connect and improve our world, now and in the future. This study will help inform the approach we take to further decarbonising our cement and lime processes as part of our transition to net zero.”

Project ID 22012 - Loadhog Limited

IETF grant offered: £335,679
Project costs: £959,137
Location: Sheffield
Energy efficiency deployment competition: Jetstream

Loadhog Limited is moving forwards with an investment to deploy a new technology in Plastic Mould Injection, thereby demonstrating and quantifying the value of the technology . Deployment of the project will equip Loadhog with a working system that can improve efficiencies on a range of components, and the technology has the potential to significantly increase capacity on our existing equipment.

Reduced energy consumption and reduced cycle time are key requirements for Loadhog, representing commercial value and alignment with our sustainability endeavours. The IETF funding is a key enabler in driving the project forwards.

The technology has potential to significantly reduce the power consumption on our moulding machines, predicted to be in the region of 25% reduction per component produced.

Leigh Jowett, Ideas and Innovation Director, Loadhog, said: “I believe this is a tangible and exciting project, that moves us forwards in-line with each of our core values: Sustainability; the reduction of energy consumption and getting more output from the machines that we have. Innovation; the adoption of new technology to realise quantifiable business improvements. Service; reducing lead-times for the manufacture of our products. Working on this project will test our ability to implement new technology, but also build links with providers and enablers of solutions to facilitate other investigations and projects for the future.”

Project ID 22034 - Atomising Systems Limited

IETF grant offered: £1,030,021
Project costs: £1,474,205
Location: Sheffield
Study competition: EnerAM

EnerAM is a group project between Atomising Systems Limited (ASL), Laser Additive Solutions (LAS), The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC), Hybird Technologies ltd and Brunel University London (BUL).

ASL has over 30 years of experience in developing and using atomising equipment to produce metal powders from its factory in Sheffield. This is an energy intensive process, involving energy for melting, refining nitrogen gas and in the raw materials that are melted and alloyed. Not all the powder produced in an atomising run is usable, with as little as 30% being used for additive processes.

The purpose of the project is to analyse and improve the carbon reduction and energy efficiency potential of process optimisation using AI and a recycling approach in the production of metal-based powder used in additive manufacturing as feed raw material. Powdered metal produced by Atomising Systems Limited is being recycled in the DED process by Laser Additive Solutions, with powder and parts tested by the NAMRC to ensure no degradation of properties as recycling continues. Data collected by all partners is being used by Hybird and BUL to create an analytics model showing the energy consumption in each process and optimise its reduction based on input parameters.

EnerAM is an IETF funded project, with ~60% of the funding from this call and the remaining 40% coming from the project partners. The funding is allowing the involvement of smaller companies which would not be able to fund such research themselves, and allowing ASL to work with partners experienced in modelling and AI, far outside of ASLs expertise and direction.

Over the course of the project, ASL aims to reduce the overall energy used in the production of DED suitable metal powder by 20%, and gain industrial confidence on the recycling of powders and heat affected parts back into the start of the process.

Dirk Aderhold, Technical Director, Atomising Systems, said: “Metal powder production is an energy intensive process and more research and development are needed to reduce the overall carbon footprint of additive manufacturing processes. Working on optimising the entire production route from melting metal to producing a final part opens up opportunities to optimise the entire production value chain.”

Project ID 22046 - Simpsons Malt Limited

IETF grant offered: £3,554,672
Project costs: £7,109,344
Location: Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Deep decarbonisation deployment competition: Tweed Valley Maltings Energy Centre

Project description

Simpsons Malt Limited, a fifth-generation family business and Certified B Corporation, has partnered with AMP Clean Energy, which will finance, develop and operate a low carbon Energy Centre on land next to the company’s Tweed Valley Maltings headquarters in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The Energy Centre will comprise a 12MW electric boiler – powered by curtailed wind energy – and three 6MW biomass boilers using locally-sourced, low-grade woodchip, and will reduce the carbon emissions generated during the energy-intensive kilning stage of the malting process.

Malt is a key ingredient in the production of whisky and beer, with around 90% of the 245,000 tonnes per annum of malt produced at the Tweed Valley Maltings – the UK’s largest malting site – destined for the distilling industry.

12MW electric boiler

This is the first time in the UK that a high-voltage electric boiler will decarbonise an industrial heat process. The boiler will be powered by wind energy from turbines that would have otherwise been switched off during periods of excess wind.

In the current energy system, the grid can’t store excess renewable energy at scale or transmit it to other locations so there is no option but to ask wind companies to turn off their turbines on windy days.

This cutting-edge technology allows for increased renewable electricity generation and reduced compensation payments to wind energy generators.

6MW biomass boilers

Biomass fuel will be used during periods when there is no excess renewable electricity generation. The biomass boiler will use locally sourced, sustainable woodchip, bringing previously under-managed woodlands into commercial use.

The impact

The project, which is AMP’s largest single investment to date, will save 25,000 tonnes of carbon each year and will save the same amount of gas used by 11,000 homes each year.

It will also reduce carbon emissions at the Tweed Valley Maltings site by up to 80%, and Simpsons Malt Limited’s overall emissions by around 55%.

It takes approximately 2.5kg of malting barley to produce just one litre of whisky, meaning the new process will save 275g of carbon for every litre of whisky produced. It will also support the Scotch whisky sector’s emissions reduction targets. The sector produces more than 1.6 billion bottles each year for the international market, worth around £6.2 billion.

Steven Rowley, Operations Director at Simpsons Malt Limited, said: “As a Certified B Corporation, we are committed to minimising the impact of our operations on the environment and operating this Energy Centre at our Tweed Valley Maltings will be an important step in our objective of achieving net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, giving us a group reduction of around 55%.

“As a result, the malt that leaves our Tweed Valley Maltings – 90% of which is destined for the distilling industry – will have a significantly reduced carbon footprint, helping our distilling customers deliver on their own sustainability objectives while also positively impacting the sector as a whole.”

Project ID 22044 – A.D. Harvey

IETF grant offered: £2,046,643
Project costs: £3,421,072
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
Deep decarbonisation deployment competition: Combined decarbonisation of the hot water and refrigeration processes

Project history

Over eight decades A.D. Harvey has produced quality poultry products sourced from chickens within environmentally sustainable sectors of the UK poultry industry. These chickens benefit from higher welfare standards and longer lives than most UK poultry. We then follow the highest worldwide industry standards for preparing poultry for human consumption.

Whilst improving bottlenecks in A.D. Harvey process flows, wasted heat energy was identified that could be utilised to decarbonise the processes with the use of more sophisticated technology.

The current process

After the birds have been humanely slaughtered, heat energy is required in the form of hot water produced by oil-fired boilers. This hot water is used to aid feather removal and bird preparation in a hygienic and food safe manner.

After the initial processes, natural body heat and heat used in the preparation process must be removed from each carcass as quickly as possible to ensure good food safety and enhanced shelf life. This is achieved through aging industrial blast chillers, with heat extracted vented to atmosphere as a waste product. The associated refrigeration equipment uses R404A refrigerant, which has a high Global Warming Potential (GWP).

At designated times during and after production, the whole facility is cleaned using hot water from the same oil-fired boilers. This sanitization is required to meet the high regulatory standards of UK governing bodies and leading UK accreditations, which A.D. Harvey holds.

The solution

Together with industry engineering, refrigeration and processing experts, A.D. Harvey developed a technical solution to capture the waste heat from a state-of-the-art ammonia glycol refrigeration system. The heat is then recirculated back into the process using a heat pump and a series of heat exchangers coupled to a mass hot water store.

The solution provides all refrigeration and hot water needs for the site and the following positive outcomes:

• 1. Decommissioning its oil-fired boilers
• 1. Complete transfer to electrical energy, utilizing, where possible, renewable energy sources
• 1. Decommissioning of aging refrigeration equipment and removal of R404A refrigerant
• 1. 152.89 tonnes of CO2 saved per year
• 1. Overall, complete decarbonization of the processes

A.D. Harvey would not be able to fund the project without the significant funding received from the IETF.

Summary

A.D Harvey believes the technical solution is a meat industry first, paving the way for others. Building a better, more sustainable food manufacturing industry and significantly contributing to UK CO2 net zero targets.

If scaled up and replicated throughout the meat and food industries, the benefits to businesses and their environmental impacts would be massive.

Tom Harvey, Partner at A.D. Harvey, said: “A.D. Harvey is a 3-generation family business which has been operating since 1956. The Harvey family has always prided itself on developing the business to the highest standards for their customers, suppliers and employees. The grant awarded by the IETF allows the Harvey Team to continue their story in a sustainable and conscientious way for generations to come.”

Project ID 22021 - Aggregate Industries UK Limited

IETF grant offered: £114,586
Project costs: £200,713
Location:  Wigan
Study competition: Asphalt Manufacturing Waste Heat Recovery

Traditionally in asphalt manufacturing, not much thought is given to the exhaust gasses exiting the main dryer except to ensure the flow is properly filtered for environmental control. The majority of exhaust pipework is unlagged, serving just to move the gasses from one place to another.

Aggregates are fed into a large natural gas, kerosene or fuel oil fired rotary dryer, where they are dried and heated to the required temperature before they are moved to a separate mixer where it is combined with recycled asphalt and bitumen before being loaded for delivery. This is a very energy intensive process with the majority of energy being consumed in the form of burner fuel.

Aligning with Aggregate Industries net zero road map, the overall goal of this project is to reduce fuel expenditure, leading to a reduction in carbon emitted per ton of asphalt produced along with an associated reduction in manufacturing costs. 

This project aimed to investigate the feasibility and potential for a combustion air preheating system utilising recovered heat from the exhaust flow, determine the potential savings, costs and other considerations to make this a viable technology at the company’s Astley Site in Wigan. 

Furthermore, the intent is to develop an overarching process, based upon a bespoke simulation tool and data collection equipment, to allow any asphalt manufacturing plant to size, cost and evaluate performance for a waste heat recovery system for their site. It is intended that this will allow for a wide scale roll out of this technology across multiple plants with preliminary studies indicating a promising reduction in fuel consumption.

Currently, cold air is drawn through an inlet and used to burn natural gas within the main rotary dryer to heat up and dry aggregate. By increasing the temperature of that inlet air via preheating, the intention is to improve the thermal efficiency of the plant, reducing the heating load upon the burner, meaning that less fuel is required to achieve the same temperatures.

This brings an associated reduction in fuel costs currently estimated to be between 4% and 10% freeing up more funding to facilitate our goals of decarbonising our asphalt industry, by the use of low carbon fuels and enhanced recycled product integration.

As a result of this feasibility study, the company is looking to pursue the deployment of this technology on any eligible sites within its estate. 

This project is a joint partnership between Aggregate Industries and Aston University involving professional industry engineers, energy and carbon specialists, site managers and technical staff, as well as involving engineering students from Aston University. 

Project ID 22023 - Pilkington UK Limited

IETF grant offered: £3,732,261
Project costs:  £17,241,439
Location: St Helens
Energy efficiency deployment competition: Addition of a rolled process line to UK5 float line (Project Broadway)

Pilkington UK Limited, part of the NSG Group, is making a multi-million-pound investment in its Merseyside facilities as part of a government-backed project that will save 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year while securing the future of rolled glass manufacturing in the UK.

Under the project, Pilkington UK will move its Watson Street manufacturing operations to its Greengate site in the town. The move represents a major investment in its Greengate glass furnace, which melts the raw materials into glass as part of the manufacturing process. The Greengate furnace will be upgraded to accommodate its continued production of flat glass while delivering the additional output required from the relocation of its Watson Street rolled glass manufacturing line.

The project was instigated as the manufacturer’s furnace at Watson Street, where the business has operated since 1826, reaches its end of life. The site will be shutdown with all jobs from Watson Street being relocated to Greengate as part of the project.
Producing all glass out of the upgraded furnace, rather than running two, will save carbon emissions equivalent to taking 8,800 cars off the road each year (based on a carbon saving of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 and the average CO2 emissions per car per year in the UK of 1.7 million grams (NimbleFins)).

The work will begin in August 2023 with the line due to be up and running by October 2024. Watson Street will remain open until then with no impact expected on the availability of glass while the work takes place.

The project will benefit from a £3.7 million grant via the government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), which helps cover the costs of industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects in the UK.

Last year, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) certified the NSG Group’s aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels. This forms the basis of the business’ plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The move also follows other work by Pilkington UK to reduce the emissions of its operations. Pilkington UK completed several world-first trials of low carbon biofuel and zero carbon hydrogen fuels to fire its glass furnace last year. The trials ran in collaboration HyNet, a decarbonisation project working to promote the use of low carbon and hydrogen energy across the North West and Wales.

Neil Syder, managing director of Pilkington UK, said: “This project represents one of the single biggest investments we’ve made in our UK manufacturing facilities in decades, and will ultimately secure the future of rolled glass manufacturing in the UK.

“Working out of one furnace will enable us to make a permanent and significant saving in CO2 emissions. It’s a radical shift in the way we operate, but we know that if we are to achieve our net zero ambitions, we need to make change across all areas of our business.
“The Watson Street site has been operating since the 1800s and forms a key piece of our history. Throughout the years, the site has been instrumental in the development of different products, paving the way for a rich history of innovation in glass solutions.

“Yet this move marks a new chapter in our story that allows us to embrace more sustainable ways of making glass and continue to drive forward our vision for change in partnership with the industry.”

Project ID 22043 – Somers Forge Limited

IETF grant offered: £66,193
Project costs: £127,782
Location: Halesowen
Study competition: The Forward Project - Forging furnace high temperature waste heat recovery using advanced composite phase change

The Forward project aims to address low energy efficiency challenges in the forging sector mostly due to highly inefficient (≤ 5.5% efficiency in older designs) furnaces and operations. This engineering study will benefit from previous/ongoing feasibility studies funded by the government funds including the IETF.

The focus on a specific gas-fired Furnace-5 at Somers Forge, which is batch-operated (temperatures ~1200-1300°C, 12-20 hrs heating, 18-36 hrs holding-period, consuming ~187m3/hr) lead to high energy bills. Current energy efficiency stands at <~14%, waste being through high-temperature (>1200°C) exhaust flue-gases.

The company is proposing to use a Thermal Energy Storage (TES)-based Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) technology, integrated with Furnace-5 flue, to recover-store-use waste heat from heating-holding processes, for furnace heating in the next batch of operations. The integrated system consists of flue; TES unit; two hot exhaust gas butterfly-valves for directing, recirculating and controlling flue gases to the TES unit; and a medium-temperature (~250°C) blower to re-circulate flue gases.

The novelty of the proposal lies in the scalable-retrofittable design doing away with the need for furnace replacements. The TES unit is modular and capable of storing-releasing waste heat in a cascaded manner (medium-to-high temperatures). TES consists of two medium-to-high temperature Composite Phase Change Materials (CPCMs), developed by the University of Birmingham and validated commercially, and a high temperature Sensible Heat Storage (SHS) material.

By the project end, the company will have:

• detailed system design with key technical parameters
• sizes determined, and equipment selected
• cost estimated based on design and supply chain study
• HAZOP study
• business-case ready for credible business decision to implement the proposed technology at Somers Forge site. The business-case will include pathways to industrial replication across Somers Forge, sister-companies, UK Confederation of Metalforming member companies, and other foundation industries. The outputs will be disseminated through the CBM, University of Birmingham and the collaborative partners will identify the supply chain required for delivery.

It is conservatively estimated that if this approach were applied to the 33 CBM Forging sector members, it would represent an opportunity to reduce annual gas consumption by 336,000 MWh and over 61,000 tCO2e equating to more than £23 million energy spend based on gas supplied at 7p/kwh. 

Implementing this solution on just one of the large furnaces at Somers Forge, based on today’s energy costs, would save £160,000 per annum (2,280 MWh gas) and 418 tCO2e. A business case RoI payback of less than two years is therefore feasible, making the solution attractive to SMEs.