The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Whisky industry is ‘still game’ over new power sources to fuel future of Scotland
What do Vladimir Putin, Kwasi Kwarteng and Henry Cavendish have in common?
The answer is they may each have played a role in the future of Scotch whisky.
Russian President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered a catastrophic surge in global gas prices which were already creeping up as factories reopened post-Covid.
The ensuing energy crisis generated crippling inflation through imported energy costs.
This prompted the then business secretary, Mr Kwarteng, to launch his Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (Rema) – reigniting the “energy trilemma” debate of the noughties to balance energy security, environmental sustainability and consumers’ charges.
A second Rema consultation closes on May 7. It may lead to cheaper costs by not pegging electricity prices to the most expensive form of generation, burning gas in power stations.
According to many experts, unleashing the true, cheap, cost of renewable electricity will be a “game-changer”.
It will also stoke the debate surrounding how whisky distilleries are powered.
The Scotch Whisky Association has set a 2040 net-zero target, five years ahead of Scotland’s 2045 deadline and 10 in advance of the UK’s 2050 goal.
While electrification may become fairly straightforward for Central Belt distillers, sites in the north and north-east face a dilemma.
Rural electricity networks are often not robust enough to handle the increased load.
Distilleries end up having to fork out the extra money to upgrade grid connections.
Some could erect wind turbines to generate electricity on site. But the capital costs of installing heat pumps and other equipment to make steam to heat the stills will still be prohibitive for many.
That’s where Cavendish comes into play – while Swiss Renaissance pioneer Paracelsus and Irish chemist Robert Boyle both observed hydrogen, it’s Cavendish who’s credited with first describing the gas, in 1766.
Electricity can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen then burned to produce heat.
Unlike the natural gas or fuel oil currently burned by distilleries, hydrogen doesn’t produce carbon dioxide, methane or other greenhouse gases when it is burned in the air.
So, should distillers in the north be preparing to switch to electricity or hydrogen?
Jack Byres is principal renewable energy consultant at Locogen, which is installing hydrogen technology at Arbikie distillery near Arbroath.
Mr Byres said: “From a thermodynamics point of view, there’s absolutely no argument.
“You should be using electricity where you can, because it’s a far more efficient use of energy than those intermediate steps required to produce hydrogen.
“There are instances though where you get into practical engineering considerations.
“If you apply for a larger grid import capacity, then in most cases you’re going to have to fit the bill for those upgrades.
“That cost is often an immediate project killer. It could be more expensive than the rest of the project put together.
“If you can erect a wind turbine, that could make a project viable financially.
“But there could be other constraints, such as changing the structure of the building to accommodate more equipment.
“From the distiller’s point of view, hydrogen is a far simpler option because it’s just like using gas – your boiler changes but everything downstream from there stays the same.”
Mr Byres added: “With my physics background, I would say electrification is better. But from the distiller’s perspective, hydrogen is better as it requires fewer operational changes. However, there does need to be a reliable low-carbon supply of hydrogen.
“Not every distillery is going to be able to electrify. Nor is every distillery going to be able to use hydrogen. You are going to get both across the whisky industry.”
Tom Baxter, an industrial consultant and visiting professor at Strathclyde University, agreed there is no onesize-fits-all solution.
Mr Baxter said: “To my mind, it boils down to straight economics – what’s commercially attractive for you?
“My concern is that people are jumping at hydrogen thinking it’s the correct solution without looking at the alternatives, such as heat pumps, anaerobic digestion and biomass. I’ve seen so often that hydrogen is being looked at in a silo and not being assessed comparatively.
“When you’re looking at your alternatives, your analysis should boil down to your discriminators – the capital cost, operational cost, safety impact and environmental impact.
“For example, a heat pump is going to need a third of the energy, compared to hydrogen.
“You’d need three times as many wind turbines to produce hydrogen as you would to run a heat pump.
“Or if a rural distillery can’t produce its own hydrogen and instead needs to bring it in on tankers, then they’d need to assess the environmental impact of those journeys.”
Mr Baxter added: “This is the analysis a distiller needs to do to determine what’s best for a specific site. My experience says hydrogen isn’t a frontrunner.
“Once electricity prices
are uncoupled from gas prices – which I’m pretty sure will happen – that will favour electrification more.
“That’s why you need to do scenario planning. It’s something we do all the time in the oil and gas industry.”
While most distilleries heat their stills with steam generated by a gas or oilfired boiler, spirits giant Beam Suntory swapped its Glen Garioch distillery in Oldmeldrum back to heating directly by gas in 2021.
Earlier this month Beam released results from its demonstration project to heat a still at Japan’s Yamazaki Distillery directly with hydrogen.
This was under the same UK Government WhiskHy scheme that funded part of Arbikie’s trial.
Alistair Longwell, head of distilling and environment, Beam Suntory, said: “With steam, you’re using about 130C. But with direct firing you’re closer to 1,000C, so you get caramelisation, with cooked flavours and biscuit notes. Based on the success of the trial we’ve had in Japan, if hydrogen becomes available for Glen Garioch, then we may look to use it.”
Examining the slow uptake of hydrogen, Gareth Jones – founder of Organic Architects and now a distillery consultant – said: “I’ve been told the major reason hydrogen hasn’t happened to date is slow infrastructure development.
“Funders, rather than distillers, have told me that governments in general have promised a lot on hydrogen infrastructure but it hasn’t happened.”
Mr Jones said that in the future whisky makers may move to where energy is readily available, such as wind power on the Mull of Kintyre or around Nigg’s hydrogen hub in Easter Ross.
He added: “Just think of the amount of distilling and malting that goes on around Inverness and the Black Isle. The infrastructure is impressive and it’s never really acknowledged.”