Welsh brewery to be first powered by hydrogen in UK

Welsh brewery to be first powered by hydrogen in UK

A Welsh brewery is set to become the first in the UK to be powered by hydrogen.

Budweiser Brewing Group revealed hydrogen would be used to fuel production, heavy goods vehicles and trucks at its Magor brewery in Monmouthshire.

Wales’ rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths said the project would help efforts to tackle tackle climate change and had the the potential to “create new jobs and exciting opportunities”.

The news comes as the UK government said 18 foreign investment deals in low-carbon sectors worth almost £10bn would create about 30,000 jobs.

They include investments in sectors such as wind and hydrogen energy, sustainable homes and carbon capture.

‘Huge potential’

Budweiser Brewing Group’s (BBG) project is expected to be fully functional by 2024 and would see the first large-scale hydrogen generation system built at a brewery.

It told the BBC using hydrogen technology would help to provide zero-carbon power and fuel for all its operations in a bid to become carbon neutral.

The firm already powers its brewery operations in Magor from solar farms and an on-site wind turbine.

Mauricio Coindreau, head of sustainability and procurement at BBG, said energy solutions like hydrogen had “huge potential” in helping to cut the firm’s carbon footprint.

The group, the UK arm of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, is working with UK-based hydrogen energy firm Protium, to deliver the plans.