An Edinburgh brewery is investing in renewable energy as it works towards becoming electrically self-sufficient. A new solar installation is expected to save the business nearly £33,000 per year.
Photograph: Clean Earth Energy
Vault City Brewing, the UK’s largest dedicated sour beer producer, has partnered with renewable energy specialist CleanEarth Energy to install 400 solar PV panels on the roof of its brewery at Edinburgh’s BioCampus.
The 222kWp system is expected to generate 175,400kWh of clean electricity each year, equivalent to the annual electricity use of around 70 homes. This will save the brewery an estimated £33,000 annually. Over its 25-year lifespan, the project is projected to deliver more than £820,000 in energy savings and reduce Vault City’s Scope 2 emissions by an estimated 33 tonnes of CO2e each year.
The installation forms part of a wider ambition of Vault City co-founder Steven Smith-Hay to eventually make the brewery self-sufficient in the energy it uses to produce its beers.
The brewery is also working with Brew Resourceful and automation specialists Fermcraft to maximise the energy generated by the solar array. Rather than relying solely on conventional battery storage, Vault City is using its brewing process to store energy in the form of chilled beer.
Refrigeration accounts for nearly half (44.7%) of the brewery’s energy use, making it its largest single energy demand. By scheduling cooling to coincide with periods of solar generation, Vault City aims to power 100% of its refrigeration energy using solar during the summer months.
Chris Lewington, founder of Brew Resourceful, said the project demonstrates how breweries can approach sustainability as both an environmental and financial opportunity. “People often confuse sustainability with being expensive, when in reality becoming self-sufficient by generating and managing your own energy can help you put money back into your business.
“Steve had a vision for Vault City’s future and I had a vision for what a brewery could be. We both believe that self-sufficient brewing is not only possible but achievable, while still maintaining fiscal responsibility. The opportunity here is to show what that can look like in practice.”
He added: “What we are doing with Vault City is looking at the brewing process itself as a form of thermal battery. Cooling beer from around 15° to 20°C down to 2°C is the brewery’s biggest energy demand over the course of a year. By moving that process to times when solar generation is highest, we can use the energy when it is being produced rather than storing it in a separate battery.”
Steven Smith-Hay said: “We have an ambition to be entirely self-sufficient, which I believe is the ultimate production sustainability goal because it is both environmentally responsible and financially beneficial.
“The solar project is a major milestone because it gives us the ability to generate a significant proportion of the electricity we use ourselves. But the bigger opportunity is what we do with that energy. By combining solar generation with smarter automation and our brewing process, we can change when and how we use energy rather than simply looking at where that energy comes from.
“We want Vault City to be an example of what a modern brewery can look like when sustainability and commercial responsibility are considered together.”
