Bakery saves £400,000 pa with CHP

Leading the way with sustainability

Producing more than two million products every day, this UK bakery places great emphasis on sustainability. So when it started making plans to open one of Europe’s largest plants, it wanted to ensure the bakery operated in the most energy efficient manner possible.

Taking control of energy

The bakery worked with Centrica Business Solutions to install a 1MWe Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit from its latest range of the most electrically efficient units. Through this installation, electricity is produced at low-voltage, then increased to a high-voltage for connection to the site’s 11KV ring main.

Exhaust gases from the engine are used to generate the site’s base steam load requirements, and hot water is recovered from the engine, stored, then re-used by other equipment on the site.

Centrica Business Solutions also provides a ten-year maintenance contract to ensure the CHP unit continues to  run efficiently.

The results

The CHP unit is helping the new plant to save 1,000 tonnes  of carbon emissions annually. Energy costs will be reduced  by approximately £400,000 per year, allowing the company  to pay for the warranty-backed unit in around three years.

“We were impressed by the technical innovation Centrica Business Solutions showed. They gave us complete peace  of mind, carrying out detailed site evaluations and managing  a full installation. We now have plans to work on similar projects at four other sites,” explains the bakery’s Sustainability Manager.

Centrica Business Solutions is now working with the  company on several projects across its portfolio of bakeries, enabling it to be at the forefront of environmental leadership within the food industry.

Why choose Centrica Business Solutions’ CHP?

• Stabilises energy costs over a fixed period
• Pays for itself through savings within three years
• Improves environmental performance
• Helps generate power independently to meet demand