After concluding a contract for the supply of wind energy, the Holland Malt factory will soon become the first in Eemshaven to be completely emission-free. This takes nine years of preparation.
The power that Holland Malt needs comes from the Oostzeedijk wind farm, located at the foot of the Zeeland Bridge in Noord-Beveland. There, three new, larger Nordex wind turbines will replace as many smaller Vestas turbines. The new mills are over 160 meters high. The park is owned by the Zeewind and Camperwind cooperative.
The sustainably generated electricity is mainly intended for the large heat pumps installed at the company in Eemshaven. These pumps use the residual heat released during the drying process of the malt. As a result, gas will soon no longer be needed. With the help of the heat pumps, the malt factory can save about 60 percent on energy.
18 million cubic meters of gas
Holland Malt in Eemshaven now uses more than 18 million cubic meters of gas per year, an amount enough for 14,000 households. Once the factory has completely switched to sustainable energy, not a gram of CO2 or nitrogen will pass through the chimney.
“Thanks to the collaboration with Windpark Oostzeedijk, the sustainable electricity for our emission-free malting plant has a clear sender. It comes directly from three wind turbines on Dutch soil,” says CEO Jos Jennissen of Holland Malt with satisfaction.
Holland Malt, part of the Brabant family business Royal Swinkels that attaches great importance to sustainability, is one of the largest malt houses in the world. The production site was opened in the northern port in the summer of 2006. The capacity now amounts to 280,00 tons of malt annually, an important raw material for beer. This can produce 8.5 billion glasses of beer.
Malt travels all over the world
The barley for the malt is supplied by truck and by ship and comes not only from the Netherlands but also from Denmark, Sweden and France. Together with the malting plant in Lieshout, Brabant, Holland Malt has a capacity of 400,000 tons of malt. The malt goes to more than fifty countries to be processed into beer.
The company has invested millions in greening the factory in Eemshaven and has also received subsidies for this, including from the government and the province of Groningen. The first plans for making the malt factory more sustainable were already made in 2015.