Jos Jennissen, CEO of Holland Malt: “Malt is one of the main ingredients of beer. The malting process is energy-intensive, particularly the drying of malt requires a lot of heat, which is currently generated by burning fossil fuels or biomass. In our new system, we capture the residual heat from our drying process at 23 degrees and can upgrade it to the required 85 degrees by means of the heat pump. This way, we can reuse it for the next drying process.”
This alone results in an energy saving of 67%. The energy needed to run the system is entirely obtained from sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, making the process totally emission-free. This will save an amount of CO2 emissions that is comparable to the emissions of 14,000 households per year. Holland Malt expects the system to be fully operational in 2024.
Collaboration
This sustainability project has come about thanks to the collaboration within the Chemport region: with the Province of Groningen, Groningen Seaports, RWE and the Dutch government.
IJzebrand Rijzebol, member of the Provincial Executive of Groningen, said: “We are very proud of this sustainable development in Eemshaven. Our industry must become greener, and the Holland Malt initiative is an important step in that direction. As the province of Groningen, we are happy to support this. It is also a good example for the rest of the world. Together, we are working on a green, future-proof industry.”
Chemport Europe supports companies in their transition process by helping to find funding, assisting in the permit process and by connecting companies in the value chain. However, it states that the support of the Dutch government is needed for the acceleration of offshore wind projects and the landing of their electricity. To halt climate change, the electrification of the process industry in the Chemport region will need an additional 4-6 GW of green electricity in the first phase.
Image: Holland Malt/YouTube
