Royal Grolsch is taking an important step towards a regional energy transition with Twence

Greenhouse gases, which are caused by the combustion of natural gas, for example, are heating up the earth. Grolsch will purchase green energy from Twence, starting 2022, to reduce CO2 emissions and to take a big step towards realising a CO2 neutral beer brewery. This will reduce Grolsch’s CO2 emissions by 72 per cent (5,500 tons) per year.

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In short

Greenhouse gases, which are caused by the combustion of natural gas, among other things, are heating up the earth by emitting CO2, for example.
Starting 2022, Grolsch will purchase green energy from Twence, to reduce CO2 emissions and realise a CO2-neutral brewery.

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#energy tech

#environment

#sustainable

Global Goal

“You don’t have to save on energy that you don’t use. That is the aim of our energy policy”, says Susan Ladrak, Engineering Manager at Grolsch. Grolsch has, therefore, been investigating options for using less energy for years. They want to be completely rid of all fossil fuels by 2050. Collaborations with partners such as Twence are important for giving shape to Grolsch’s ambitions. “We need warm water in the brewery, for heating our rinsing machines and offices. We will be able to stop using our gas-fired boilers in 2022, by transferring the energy in Twence’s hot water system to our own. We will then use the heat that they have generated in a completely sustainable manner. Grolsch can get rid of using gas within the nearby future this way.”

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Twente’s heat network

A new pipeline will be laid to Grolsch, from the existing pipeline towards the Marssteden. The water will pass through a heat exchanger at Grolsch, where the heat from Twence’s hot water is transferred to that of Grolsch. The water is heated to 120 degrees Celcius by steam that is generated during combustion processes. Twence’s incinerators run on biomass; non-reusable waste wood that is released during constructions and renovations, for example. The energy that Twence supplies to Grolsch is, therefore, 100% green. 5,500 households and more than 180 companies in Enschede, including the University of Twente and the FC Twente stadium, have been heated with Twence’s waste-to-energy plant since 2010. With this heat network, Grolsch will now also become one of Twence’s chain partners.

Looking at the future

Beer brewer Grolsch has been working on reducing its energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions for years. Susan: “Our sustainability policy consists of six spearheads, where, besides reducing energy and CO2 emissions, topics such as water and sustainable packaging materials are very important. We focus on two things regarding our CO2 emissions; continuously improving the energy efficiency of the brewery and using sustainable energy sources. We are working on various initiatives at the same time to brew CO2 emission-neutral beer by 2025.”

Routing studies for the heat supply from Twence will be conducted and developed in 2020. The aim is to start construction in 2021. In mid-2022, Grolsch will be able to use the heat from Twence.