UK – The Kraft Heinz Company has entered into an agreement with Carlton Power, a UK energy infrastructure development company, to explore the development of a renewable green hydrogen plant at its Kitt Green manufacturing plant in Wigan, Greater Manchester.
Kitt Green stands as one of the largest food processing plants in Europe and is a key facility for Kraft Heinz, producing a quarter of a million tons of food annually and employing around 850 people.
This initiative marks a crucial step for Kraft Heinz, as it signs on for its first global renewable hydrogen project.
According to Kraft Heinz, the proposed 20MW Kitt Green hydrogen plant aims to meet over 50 percent of the plant’s annual natural gas demand, resulting in a reduction of the facility’s carbon emissions by 16000T/yr.
The hydrogen will be produced by an electrolyser utilizing electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar power.
Eric Adams, Hydrogen Projects Director at Carlton Power, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Kraft Heinz to bring forward a green hydrogen facility at Kitt Green to help the company accelerate its efforts to decarbonise their operations.
It is critical that projects like this are brought forward to support British companies, especially in manufacturing, in reducing their carbon emissions and reaching Net Zero.”
Jojo Lins De Noronha, President, Northern Europe, The Kraft Heinz Company, highlighted the significance of the partnership with Carlton Power in advancing efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
He stated, “Our agreement with Carlton Power is an important step forward in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve our global goal of net zero emissions by 2050, with a 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2030.”
The US$50.25 million Carlton/Kraft Heinz renewable hydrogen scheme, subject to planning approval and financing, is anticipated to commence operations in 2026.
Construction is contingent on securing financial support from the UK Government’s second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) of the Hydrogen Production Business Model.
Over the next 12-18 months, Kraft Heinz and Carlton Power will pursue planning permission for the scheme.
Simultaneously, the companies will collaborate to secure grant funding and operational financial support from the UK Department of Energy Supply and Net Zero (DESNZ) with the aim of delivering hydrogen to Kitt Green in 2026/27.
This green hydrogen initiative aligns with Kraft Heinz’s commitment announced in 2021 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operational footprint (Scope 1 and Scope 2) and the entire global supply chain (Scope 3) by 2050.
For all the latest packaging and printing industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
