AG Barr Plc produces many of Scotland’s favourite drinks from their Cumbernauld base, including Strathmore Water, Rockstar, and of course, the iconic Irn Bru.
When they decided to expand, Rockstar were quoted a massive £1,000,000+ from Scottish Power to upgrade the traditional energy systems on site. Understandably, they decided to look elsewhere for their power and saw the expansion as an opportunity to invest in renewable energy, saving money and becoming a greener company in a single stroke.
It was decided that wind energy was the most suitable option for their energy requirements and the location of the site, as well as benefitting the local community.
We delivered this wind energy upgrade on behalf of a private funder as part of a private wire power purchase agreement for Barr.
We installed an EWT DW54-500 500kW wind turbine at Barr’s Cumbernauld bottling facility, aligning installation with a pre-planned shutdown of the site to minimise disruption and reduce the impact on Barr’s production capabilities.
During this process, we worked and liaised with a huge number of different groups to make installation possible, including organising road closures and new grid connections.
The wind turbine now in place at AG Barr’s Cumbernauld facility has helped them to slash their energy usage, preserving jobs and benefiting the local area through a community benefit scheme.
“We produce 30 million cases of drinks per annum from our Cumbernauld facility. Positioned on the edge of an industrial estate and with the open aspect is ideal for a wind turbine. The turbine produces 8-10% of our energy needs. We chose Absolute as they came recommended to us and had experience in this field and in complex connections”. – Andrew Memmott, Supply Chain Director, AG Barr Plc
