Another Fonterra site switching boilers from coal
Friday 5 May 2023
Fonterra is continuing to progress its decarbonisation work with the
announcement of another site transitioning from coal and the installation of a
heat pump and solar thermal system.
The Co-operative will convert its coal boilers at its Hautapu site to wood
pellets and install a heat pump at its Palmerston North milk processing site
that supplies the local market. Both projects have recieved support from the
Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Process Heat Contestable
Fund.
Fonterra Chief Operating Officer Fraser Whineray says the Co-operative is
commercially focused on reducing emissions. “There are a number of solutions
we’re using to decarbonise our operations and these two projects are a good
example of different technologies available.”
These projects are just two of many underway to decarbonise the Fonterra
business, such as the Waitoa and Stirling sites that are in the process of
installing wood biomass boilers to transition out of coal.
The Stirling wood biomass boiler will fire up for the first time today (21
April), marking the next step on the site’s transition to be totally reliant
on renewable energy for its process heat. Changing to this boiler will reduce
the annual carbon emissions by 18,500 tonnes – the equivalent of taking
approximately 7,700 cars off New Zealand’s roads.
The new Waitoa wood biomass boiler, due to be operational in November
2023, will reduce the site’s annual carbon emissions by approximately 48,000
tonnes, the equivalent of taking approximately 20,000 cars off New Zealand’s
roads.
Source: Stuff

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