Holland Malt realises the world’s first emission-free malthouse in Eemshaven

Combining energy reduction with sustainability

By completely turning off the gas tap, the malthouse reduces its CO2 emissions, comparable to the emissions of 14,000 households per year. 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. Heat that is currently generated by burning fossil fuels or biomass. And that is where we see the opportunity to become more sustainable.”

The biggest innovation in the energy transition of the malthouse is the reuse of its own residual heat and the energy savings this produces by using heat pumps. Jennissen: “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. The use of the heat pump results in an energy saving of 67%. The heat system must of course be supplied with energy. This energy is entirely obtained from sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. In this way, we first save and then become more sustainable. ”

Cooperation in the Chemport region

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: “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.”

Urgent need for green electricity

Holland Malt is one of the frontrunners in the energy transition of the process industry. Soon more and more companies in the Chemport region will also prepare for this transition. To halt climate change, the electrification of the process industry in the Chemport region will need an additional 4-6 GW in the first phase, as projected at the ‘Industry Tables’. This projection is now becoming reality, and implies that offshore windprojects need to speed up to fulfil the need for green electricity. For this acceleration and the landing of the off shore electricity, the support of the Dutch government is clearly needed.

Chemport supports companies in their transition process by helping to find funding, assisting in the permit process and by connecting companies in the value chain. As stated by Holland Malt: we cannot do this by ourselves, we all need to cooperate and help each other in order to make the transition to sustainable chemistry happen.