The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is a producer and blender of Scotch whisky, boasting a strong core range of single malt whiskies along with a range of popular blends, including The Antiquary and “Big T”. Once the largest distillery in Scotland it still boasts 12 stills and manufactures over 2,000,000 litres of whisky each year.

Tomatin uses circa 28,000 tonnes of steam per year as part of its production process and as it is located off the natural gas network, the company’s main fuel source was Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), powering a 10MW oil boiler. With HFO prices having increased significantly over the past ten years and because it is committed to the Scotch Whisky industry’s environmental goals of 20% replacement of fossil fuels by 2020 and 80% by 2050, Tomatin wanted to use renewable energy for the provision of steam required in its production process.

The Tomatin Project
In mid-2012, Tomatin and Balcas signed a long term agreement for the supply of heat energy in the form of steam at the Distillery. Balcas designed and built a 4MW wood pellet fuelled steam plant that could supply the steam requirements for the distillation of spirit at Tomatin. The Balcas boiler delivers over 80% of the distillery’s requirements, with occasional peaks in demand being met with the backup oil boiler. The displacement of HFO onsite with brites wood pellets manufactured using renewable heat and electricity, reduces the distillery’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 90,000 tonnes over the twenty year life of the agreement. Therefore as well as significant net financial savings, the distillery has also met its 2050 environmental targets as set by the Scotch Whisky Association, making it one of the greenest distilleries in Scotland.

The Balcas team worked closely with the distillery project team to raise steam only 8 months from the initial handshake with Tomatin. Balcas also installed the energy meters and managed the application and administration involved in obtaining the Renewable Heat Incentive. Finance for the project was provided by a joint venture between Balcas and Equitix, who themselves were backed by the Government’s Green Investment Bank, its first investment in Scotland.

Balcas now remotely monitors the entire installation planning fuel deliveries and scheduling regular maintenance visits. The wood used to make brites is virgin and locally sourced in Scotland.

The Balcas Proposition

Balcas is the largest manufacturer of wood pellets in the UK with our Invergordon facility in Scotland being the largest pellet plant in the UK. With our 50 years’ experience in the timber industry and almost a decade supplying high quality wood pellets under the brites brand in the UK and Ireland, we have developed a heat energy solution tailor made for large scale industrial and commercial customers requiring saturated steam within their production process.

At the heart of the solution lies the longstanding relationship with our chosen boiler manufacturer, Vyncke. Having specialised in biomass boilers for 100 years, they have worked with Balcas to perfect a range of steam boilers made to deliver in an industrial environment where steam is often required 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Delivering the technical solution, security of long term fuel supply, on-going maintenance and the finance for the installation under one energy contract, Balcas has endeavoured to answer the questions many industrial customers have asked of the renewable energy sector.

Benefits

*Instant and significant carbon savings
*Up to 90,000 tonnes of CO2 saved over the course of the contract
*Achieved Scotch Whisky Association carbon reduction target of 80% by 2050,
*37 years ahead of schedule
*Security of fuel supply from brites wood pellets
*Long term isolation from the price fluctuations in fossil fuel market
*Significant financial savings from early in the project
*Ability to benefit from the RHI for next 20 years
*Installation of 4MW biomass steam boiler completed within 8 months including planning permission
*Over achievement of original performance targets

“As members of the Scotch Whisky Association we are fully committed, along with the other members, to reducing our carbon output by 80% by 2050. The shift to brites fuel means we have now achieved this target; 37 years ahead of the target. As well as the carbon reduction, there was also a clear financial saving offered by Balcas, with the Renewable Heat Incentive providing additional funding for the next twenty years. In addition to these savings, the solution proposed by Balcas was also much more compact that others we had reviewed and the use of pellets meant we had a local and reliable source of fuel. We are delighted to now be one of the greenest distilleries in Scotland, and to have been the first to have completed the installation.”

Graham Eunson
Distillery Manager, Tomatin