Notice

IETF Phase 2, Summer 2022: competition winners

Updated 13 September 2023

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Project ID 23037 – Life Health Foods

IETF grant offered: £30,861
Project costs: £46,431
Location: Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
Study competition: Energy efficiency and carbon mitigation in grain milling

Project background

Life Health Foods (LHF) is dedicated to providing people with healthy, delicious plant–based food. LHF is one of the leading cereal manufacturers in the UK, producing breakfast cereals and healthy fruit snacks for leading retailers and brands. Dedicated to protecting the environment for future generations, LHF is continually working towards making its sourcing, production, and work practices more sustainable through investing in process optimisation and carbon reduction projects to improve environmental performance.

One such project includes improving the efficiency of its energy-intensive wheat milling process. To identify the true potential of this project, LHF joined with its long-term energy-engineering partner Envirya Ltd to undertake a feasibility study to understand the full potential of this project.

How the projects works

The objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of reducing the energy associated to the wheat milling and transfer process that accounts for 74% of electricity consumption at the Wellingborough site. The feasibility study will focus on 3 main areas:

• reducing energy associated to wheat transfer - conveyor/ blower control ensuring suitable distribution
• improving milling efficiency with increased motor and gear control – VSD for speed and torque control, high efficiency motors and direct drive to minimising losses
• interlinking wheat transfer and mills controls for overall process optimisation

By integrating these aspects, it is calculated that 477MWh can be saved per year, mitigating 101tCO2 from grid-supplied electricity.

Impact of grant funding

Committed to reaching net zero, LHF, along with Envirya, are constantly striving towards making its processes more sustainable. LHF is continuously investing in process improvements and carbon reduction schemes, however due to increasing cost of wheat and electricity, investment in decarbonisation has become more difficult. With the support from IETF, LHF has been able to continue its drive towards net zero and a sustainable future.

Expected outcome

The feasibility study will investigate how the process can be optimised to improve operational energy efficiency of the milling and wheat transfer process, reducing the associated carbon emissions. The study, undertaken by Envirya, will produce an actionable feasibility report that includes the necessary information, analysis, and recommendations for LHF to make an informed decision regarding the project. It will unlock further investments for the next IETF implementation phase and act as a demonstration for replicability and scalability for other industry sectors with a similar process.

Project ID 23031 - Bumble Hole Foods Limited

IETF grant offered: £33,398
Project costs: £48,794
Location: Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Study competition: Energy efficiency and decarbonisation of industrial processes through heat pumps

Project background

Bumble Hole Foods is a family-owned business that operates from a state-of-the-art food-processing factory producing a wide range of egg products, supplying many of the leading retailers and brands in the UK. With an ambition of becoming a carbon-neutral company, Bumble Hole Foods are continuously investing in decarbonisation projects.

Dedicated to reaching net zero, the company is currently expanding its solar PV generation with a new 256kW array to add to its existing 413kW, with the aim of electrifying its processes to remove the need for fossil fuels. Working with its long-term energy-engineering partner Envirya Ltd, the proposed solution is to replace the natural gas and gas-oil steam boilers with a heat pump solution capable of achieving the thermal requirements of its process and mitigating the direct carbon emissions from site.

How the projects works

The objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of installing a heat pump to replace the current steam system and generate heat for the company’s energy intensive processes. A heat pump is capable of achieving hot water outputs between 65°C and 80°C in-line with the temperature requirements of its site processes. By integrating a heat pump solution into its current processes, preliminary calculations show a potential carbon saving of 434 tCO2e per year. Furthermore, by utilising renewable energy generated on-site, carbon offset could be as much as 820 tCO2e per year.

Impact of grant funding

Committed to reaching net zero, Bumble Hole Foods, along with Envirya, are continuously investing in decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects. With increasing costs of fuel, issues in the supply chain due to avian flu and recent investment in renewable energy projects, further self-funding for decarbonisation has become more difficult. With the support from IETF grant funding, the company has been able to continue its drive towards net zero, increase fuel security, and improve the overall sustainability of the company.

Expected outcome

The feasibility study will provide Bumble Hole Foods with an in-depth evaluation of utilising heat pumps as a viable alternative to natural gas and gas-oil steam generation. The study will produce an actionable feasibility report that includes the necessary information, analysis, and recommendations for Bumble Hole Foods to make an informed decision on bringing this project to realisation as well as acting as a demonstration for replicating in other industry sectors.

Sharon Jones, Owner and HR Director, Bumble Hole Foods, said: “We are committed to net zero and at Bumble Hole Foods we are continuously investing in decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects to improve our sustainability performance. With the expansion of our solar PV array and thanks to IETF grant funding, we are looking to electrify our thermal processes, removing the need for fossil fuels in a step towards reaching net zero ambition.”

Project ID 23036 - Mettis Aerospace Limited

IETF grant offered: £89,021
Project costs: £142,935
Location: Redditch, Worcestershire
Study competition: Storing and re-use of wasted heat

Mettis Aerospace in Redditch, Worcestershire, has been designing and supplying precision forged and machined parts to the aerospace industry for over 80 years and is the project lead along with its’ partners the University of Birmingham in a feasibility study to capture, store and redeploy waste heat from its furnaces and utilise that heat for alternative purposes such as preheating other furnaces, components or fluids, preheating and space heating, and so on.

Many energy intensive forging businesses in the metal forming sector rely on old low efficient gas and electric furnaces, which directly affect the overall process energy efficiency and this study will lead to quantifying energy-savings through medium-high temperature waste heat recovery (WHR) and the consequent decarbonisation of the forging industry. WHR will be implemented through thermal energy storage (TES) technologies by storing and reusing the heat in composite phase change materials (CPCMs).

CPCM-TES have already been proven as technological solutions for industrial WHR in other sectors and operational working temperatures (100°C to 900°C), allowing preheating combustion air and feedstocks, space heating and buffering waste heat generation and heat demand. The project demonstrated at commercial scale a CPCM-TES device with 150 tonnes of CPCM (~710°C), a charging/discharging power of 6MW and a storage capacity of 36MWh (TRL 8). The 6MW/36MWh demonstration plant harnessed 10,000KWh from waste wind power reducing 10 tonnes of CO2/year. The large scale low carbon heating solution was awarded with 3 2019 IChemE Awards.

The focus of this study will be on using CPCM-based TES solutions to address low energy efficiency and high CO2 emissions of batch furnaces powered by gas and electricity. The company will investigate technical and economic feasibility, and assess energy and CO2 emissions savings through CPCM WHR.

More specifically, it will

• assess how CPCM-TES technology can be applied to batch furnaces (gas and electric) selected at the Mettis site and the potential efficiency improvement under different operational conditions
• estimate the overall capital operational and maintenance costs
• undergo a revenue/ benefits analysis to determine energy savings, carbon emission reduction and increased productivity

The subsequent benefits will be based on financial metrics such as heat recovered, stored and utilised (£/kWh), return on investment (£), reduced carbon/tonne material processed and process efficiency.

Peter Mills, EHS Director at Mettis, said: “we are extremely happy to be a recipient of the funding from the IETF and to moving this project forward. We continually look for ways to become more sustainable and to play our part in reaching the national net zero targets.”

Project ID 23020 - Telehouse International Europe Limited

IETF grant offered: £55,193
Project costs: £110,388
Location: London
Study competition: Feasibility study for data centre energy efficiency projects at Telehouse

The primary objective of the study is to assess the economic, energy and carbon benefits of the proposed cooling upgrade projects to provide Telehouse with the business case to implement these projects at the London Docklands campus consisting of 3 existing data centres - North, East and West.

The proposed cooling upgrade projects identified, considering energy performance, minimising equipment replacements and major works and minimal impact to a ‘live’ site, are as follows:

1. Free cooling/ heat rejection optimisation
   
2. CRAC control upgrades and supply air temperature adjustments
   
3. Cold aisle containment (CAC)
   
4. Pump/ fan control optimisation and VFDs
5. Metering/ monitoring upgrades

Given the complexity of the system, which has gone through several retrofits over the past 23 years, an in-depth analysis is required with advanced modelling software to realistically assess the impact of energy efficiency improvements. To complete this, Telehouse will use CBRE’s Romonet software, which is a specialist data centre energy modelling software. Furthermore, Telehouse will work with

Northshore, a consultancy specialising in data centre sustainability, to build the energy models and assess the impact of infrastructure upgrades.

To track the efficiency of a data centre, the industry uses a metric called power usage effectiveness (PUE). This value is calculated by dividing the amount of power entering a data centre by the power used to run the computer infrastructure within it (ideal value=1). A potential upgrade can reduce PUE from current 1.8-1.9 to 1.5 - 1.6 and cooling energy usage by 30-50% which would save 12.5 GWh/yr or 1850 tons CO2e emissions savings. Therefore, this study is needed to understand if these performance benefits can be achieved while maximising existing infrastructure performance and without replacing wide scale plant/equipment (and embodied carbon).

Furthermore, with the estimated costs for each upgrade, the resultant energy saving of each project will support the business case needed to decide whether it is feasible to invest in a large cooling system upgrade. This will be instrumental in providing the required information to make an informed application for CAPEX funding for the upgrade projects.

The age and complexity of the cooling systems at these sites requires a thorough evaluation and analysis from knowledgeable consultants and appropriate software before a large capital expenditure can be justified toward upgrading the controls and equipment. It is unlikely that a comprehensive study of this scale would be funded within the current business where the commercial focus on reliability and resiliency takes precedence.

A company spokesperson said: “Given the newness of the energy and sustainability team at Telehouse, the IETF funding will help expedite the implementation of high impact solutions not only at these three sites, but across the portfolio.”

Project ID 23041 - IBC Vehicles Limited

IETF grant offered: £33,970
Project costs: £67,940
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire
Study competition: Feasibility study of deploying heat pump technology

IBC Vehicles Limited is an automotive manufacturing company which produces light commercial vehicles for parent company Stellantis, including brands Vauxhall, Opel, Peugeot, Citroen, and Fiat. The company has very ambitious targets for energy efficiency, energy autonomy and becoming carbon net zero by 2038. This feasibility study will support the manufacturing plant to deploy heat pump technology, working towards achieving carbon net zero targets.

The scope of the study is to investigate a technical and economic solution to modify the existing ventilation heating and cooling system by introducing heat pump technology. This technology aims to reduce gas consumption by over 50%.

The study will include:

• an assessment of the energy available from geothermal, aerothermal and system exhausts
• feasibility of connection and integration into the existing distribution system and the possibility to recover heat from the system exhausts

The company will analyse various options and identify the most efficient solution and further evaluate the final solution.

The study will also include:

• risk analysis to evaluate the strategic, technical, economic, commercial, operational, and organisational risks
• permit and environmental legislation compliance analysis
• activation plan to determine the strategy of the project operation and management and establish requirements to meet the project scope and contractual requirements
• CAPEZ, OPEX and financial review

The outcome of this study will be a complete business case to support the manufacturing plant in making its decision for inward invest.

Mark Noble, UK Manufacturing Lead and Plant Director, said: “Reaching carbon net zero by 2038 and contributing to being more environmentally friendly and sustainable is not a choice but a requirement that all strategic business decisions must have, this feasibility study will support Luton plant to build a plan to achieve carbon net targets. We are grateful to the IETF, which has helped financially support the study.”

Project ID 23012 - Venator Materials UK Limited

IETF grant offered: £69,000
Project costs: £276,770
Location: Hartlepool, County Durham
Study competition: Hydrogen infrastructure FEED study at Venator Greatham

Venator Materials is a leading global chemical company dedicated to the development and manufacture of titanium dioxide pigments and performance additives.

Titanium pigment products have been produced on the Greatham site for the last 50 years. Titanium dioxide manufacture is energy intensive and whilst the site has developed its core technology over the last 50 years, the plant has always generated its considerable steam and heat demands through the combustion of fossil fuels. The proposed study is an enabling task required in advance of switching these fossil fuel consuming processes to low carbon hydrogen, to reduce its Scope 1 emissions by up to 50%.

To be a potential off-taker of low carbon hydrogen produced within the East Coast Industrial Cluster, Venator needs to complete an engineering study to design and cost the required infrastructure to import and distribute hydrogen around the site.
The process scope for the engineering study is for a fiscal monitoring skid at the site boundary, pressure regulation and associated controls, natural gas blending, instrumentation for safe control, and downstream distribution of hydrogen up to the burners on all fired systems.

The IETF funding contribution will help Venator, which will be funding the rest of the project, have costed plans in place and ready to take full advantage of the potential opportunities within the East Coast Cluster. Completing this work early with the support of IETF funding also allows the company to help hydrogen producers demonstrate that they will have potential customers ready in time to receive hydrogen.

The required infrastructure to be designed in this study will be of relevance to many industrial sectors looking to decarbonise with low carbon hydrogen.

Fuel switching is a significant element of the site’s overall decarbonisation plans to align the company to the national ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Rob Portsmouth, Senior Vice President – Sustainability and EHS, said: “At Venator, sustainability is part of our business strategy and it’s integrated into everything we do. Producing inorganic pigments is an energy intensive process. Venator aims to be at the forefront of efforts to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with this process.

“At our Greatham manufacturing facility, the use of hydrogen for process heat has been identified as the preferred technology to reduce the site’s carbon emissions. Receiving an IETF grant will enable Venator to complete the FEED study to design the infrastructure required to consume hydrogen produced within the East Coast Industrial Cluster.”

Project ID 23002 - Lunts Castings Limited

IETF grant offered: £100,180
Project costs: £143,115
Location: Birmingham
Deep decarbonisation deployment competition: : Foundry casting decarbonisation

Lunts Castings is an art foundry operating continuously in Birmingham since 1930. The business has traditionally used only natural gas to melt metal and fire moulds. The purpose of the IETF grant is to move to electric furnaces that can run from carbon neutral power supplied by solar panels the company has installed on its building.

The project works by installing an induction vacuum furnace onsite and switching 80-90% of its production to the new furnace away from gas. This is a proof of concept and if successful could lead to additional induction furnaces being installed to remove gas altogether.

The project will be funded with an IETF grant intervention rate at 70% of the cost of the new capital equipment and training associated with it.

The investment will unlock the ability of Lunts Castings to drastically reduce its carbon emissions and also to reduce energy costs by 30-40% as it can now access the solar energy in all of its production processes. This will also create a stable base for business growth over the next 25 years as it will not be as exposed to the volatility of the energy markets.

Jake Solomon, Managing Director at Lunts Castings, said: “This investment carries on the work undertaken by the directors since acquiring the business, to achieve carbon neutral castings and create a safer working environment for our staff.”

Project ID 23010 - Dartington Crystal (Torrington)

IETF grant offered: £511,153
Project costs: £681,525
Location: Torrington, Devon
Deep decarbonisation deployment competition: Furnace decarbonisation

Situated in the heart of North Devon, Dartington Crystal has been producing premium hand-made crystal for over 50 years. As the last remaining volume hand-made crystal manufacturer in the UK, the company has a proud design and brand history, including 2 Royal Warrants held in respect of its Royal Brierley brand, which itself dates back to 1776.

The company’s rich heritage is just one of the factors that has enabled it to become an established supplier in many UK and export markets, with products ranging from giftware and table top items to high value exclusive bespoke commissions.

Since 1967 when the Devon factory was opened, all glass melting has been carried out in brick built gas furnaces. The operational requirements and construction of the existing gas furnaces dictate that they have to be run continuously all year round. The furnaces therefore require an uninterrupted supply of gas and the flame heat emitted during the melting and refining cycles makes production planning extremely restrictive. Above all however, the energy consumption is vast.

As part of a program of sustainable and environmental initiatives, the phasing out of all gas furnaces and replacement with new electric furnaces will have the most significant environmental impact by far, with an expected 80% annual decrease in energy consumption. A large factor in this energy reduction is the advancement in insulating materials within the furnace walls. Furthermore, the company will be able to significantly scale down its filtration plant as the new electric furnaces are introduced.

In early 2023 a new electric furnace was acquired, and so with proven technology, the company is ready to embark on the replacement of the remaining 7 gas furnaces.

Alan Ramsay, Managing Director at Dartington Crystal, commented: “This marks a new era for the business, not only in glass melting, but in more efficient operational processes. The IETF funding provided will be integral to the timely completion of the project, which itself will be the biggest single investment in Dartington Crystal’s history.”