Caorunn third Scot distillery to go green

The Balmenach Distillery, which produces Caorunn gin, is to become the third Scottish distillery to install eco-friendly biomass boilers thanks to funding from the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB).

The £5m fund, financed by the GIB and the private sector, was announced in May as part of a wider project to help distilleries convert from fuel boilers to energy efficient biomass boilers fuelled by wood pellets.

Two distilleries, Tomatin near Inverness and Aberfeldy in Perthshire, have already benefited from new boilers with Balmenach’s new distillery predicted to reduce deliver a 30% reduction in energy costs.

The distillery, located in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands, has up until now relight on heavy fuel oil to meet its energy needs as it is not connected to the National Grid.

Rob Cormie, group operations director of GIB, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to make another investment at a Scottish distillery, just a few weeks after we announced that we were making £5m available to fund these investments.

“Projects like this provide a sustainable supply of renewable energy and save distilleries money and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. With limited capital investment, distilleries can save money from day one whilst also helping to meet the industry’s ambitious green targets.”

Balmenach distillery dates back to 1824 and is owned by Inver House Distillers Group, a subsidiary of ThaiBev.