HEINEKEN and Eneco aim for climate-neutral breweries
From 2030 onwards, HEINEKEN will be running entirely on renewable energy. To achieve this, Eneco has become HEINEKEN's energy partner in the Netherlands. A logical step, considering both companies’ commitment to sustainability. Together, they will ensure that HEINEKEN’s breweries in Zoeterwoude and 's-Hertogenbosch will become CO2 neutral.
As of January 2022, HEINEKEN will be supplied with fully sustainably generated electricity for its business processes in the Netherlands. The company already utilises wind energy. In addition, more than 26,000 solar panels have been installed on the roofs of the breweries. This is supplemented with green electricity from two new wind farms, including Windpark Fryslân. From January 2022, Eneco will be supplying 66.000 MWh of electricity from this wind farm to HEINEKEN.
Fully climate neutral
Relying on wind and solar power, electricity used at the HEINEKEN brewery in Den Bosch will be completely renewable as of January 2022. Europe’s largest HEINEKEN brewery, located in Zoeterwoude, will also be taking big steps in the area of renewable electricity as of January 2022. The Zoeterwoude brewery will reach the ‘100% green electricity’ milestone in 2024.
Besides electricity, the greening of thermal energy (gas) plays an important part in becoming climate neutral. HEINEKEN is already partly using biogas. Together with Eneco, the company is currently working on the installation of a large e-boiler in Zoeterwoude, which will further electrify HEINEKEN's thermal energy use. For the greening of remaining thermal energy, Eneco and HEINEKEN are investigating the best possible approaches to achieving fully climate neutral breweries.
Maarten Koudenburg, Senior Director Supply Chain at HEINEKEN Netherlands Supply: "Our goal is to achieve CO2 neutral production by 2030. In fact, we want our entire chain to operate in a CO2 neutral way by 2040. We are working hard to achieve these substantial objectives. Eneco is an important partner in this endeavour. Thanks to their expertise in the field of energy, I am sure our future will be green!”
Frans van de Noort, Chief Operating Officer at Eneco: "HEINEKEN has clear ambitions when it comes to climate and the pursuit of circularity. We are proud to be HEINEKEN’s energy partner in the Netherlands. By combining brewing and energy knowledge, we can jointly examine possible energy-saving options and achieve a higher level of sustainability. This gives us confidence that we will achieve the goal of having all breweries run on 100% renewable energy."