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An Edinburgh brewery has installed 400 solar panels as part of a drive to become electrically self-sufficient.
Vault City Brewing, based at the city’s BioCampus, worked with CleanEarth Energy on the solar PV installation.
Steven Smith-Hay Vault City. (Image: Gavin Hill)
The panels are expected to generate around 175,400kWh of electricity each year, equivalent to the annual electricity use of around 70 homes.
The installation is expected to save the brewery nearly £33,000 a year and more than £820,000 over its 25-year lifespan.
It will also cut the brewery’s Scope 2 emissions by an estimated 33 tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year.
Vault City is now working with Brew Resourceful and Fermcraft to find further ways to reduce and manage its energy use.
The partners are exploring a system that stores excess power in chilled beer rather than using traditional batteries.
Vault City, founded in 2018, is the UK’s largest dedicated sour beer producer and has brewed more than 450 different beers.
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Steven Smith-Hay, co-founder of Vault City Brewing, said: “We have an ambition to be entirely self-sufficient, which I believe is the ultimate production sustainability goal because it is both environmentally responsible and financially beneficial.
“The solar project is a major milestone because it gives us the ability to generate a significant proportion of the electricity we use ourselves.
“But the bigger opportunity is what we do with that energy.
“By combining solar generation with smarter automation and our brewing process, we can change when and how we use energy rather than simply looking at where that energy comes from.
“We want Vault City to be an example of what a modern brewery can look like when sustainability and commercial responsibility are considered together.”
Chris Lewington, founder of Brew Resourceful, said: “People often confuse sustainability with being expensive, when in reality becoming self-sufficient by generating and managing your own energy can help you put money back into your business.
“Steve had a vision for Vault City’s future and I had a vision for what a brewery could be.
“We both believe that self-sufficient brewing is not only possible but achievable, while still maintaining fiscal responsibility.
“The opportunity here is to show what that can look like in practice.”
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