The construction of the Little Creatures Brewery in regional Victoria will include the installation of a natural gas-fired cogeneration system.
The brewery in Geelong uses 1,200kWe of natural gas-fired cogeneration.
It will provide a large portion of the brewery’s electricity demands and utilise the waste heat generated by the engines to provide hot water for numerous process heating applications.
The units will be configured to run parallel to the grid. This means the only energy purchased from the grid is that which is over and above what the engines can supply, which is expected to be very little.
The systems have a total efficiency of 85 per cent compared to the 30 per cent efficiency
of grid-supplied electricity.
Installed by Simons Green Energy, the cogeneration plant is made up of two off-sized units, allowing for greater modulation of output.
They consist of an 800kWe and 400kWe system, with the reciprocating gas engines supplied by MWM.
They will be supplied as packaged units with engine and generator sets housed inside purpose-built containers. The brewery is set to commence production in mid 2013.
Head of brewing development at Little Creatures, Alex Troncoso, said cogeneration seemed to be a natural fit as breweries have a high thermal energy demand.
“We knew we could use the waste heat effectively for a number of applications,” he said.
Other energy efficient equipment to be used include energy recovery systems in the brewhouse, as well as extensive use of automation for the cleaning regimes and variable speed drives on motors throughout the process.
Businesses interested in cogeneration and trigeneration systems as well as other low emission technologies can apply for a government grant under the $200 million Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program.
Geelong Brewery site
