BrewDog has ambitions of becoming the world’s most sustainable drinks company – targeting carbon neutrality among its operations by 2022 – and is developing an anaerobic digestion facility, water treatment plant, CO2 recovery plant and associated energy generation centre in Ellon. The project began earlier this year and is scheduled for completion in March 2022.

The facility will convert organic process waste to site-generated biomethane for injection into the local gas grid infrastructure, helping to reduce water usage by over 40% and support the UK government to meet its net zero targets.

SGN Commercial Services has been appointed to support the biogas upgrading at the site. It has been leading the development of the UK’s biomethane industry for over ten years, supporting clients through all aspects of gas-to-grid delivery, including finance, design and build and operations phases.

The company has worked on approximately 30 new plant installations – including its own world-first biomethane injection and blending hub at Portsdown Hill – and was heavily involved in the development of first-generation biomethane network entry facility designs and specifications, enabling significant volumes of renewable green gas to enter our gas network serving approximately six million customers in Scotland and south-east England.

SGN’s network aims to increase its biomethane injection into the grid to deliver an increase in renewable energy from approximately 200,000 to 450,000 homes by the end of GD2.

Biomethane project manager, Colin Small, said: “We’re really excited to be working with Brewdog on this project and helping it to reach its negative carbon ambitions. We have worked on similar projects with other clients including distilleries and have seen the benefits the drinks sector can achieve in gas to grid solutions.”

Martin Dickie, BrewDog co-founder, said: “In 2020, BrewDog announced it was the world’s first carbon negative brewery, but this was just the first step on our journey. It’s our mission to do everything in our power to become the most sustainable drinks business on the planet.

“Having never run an AD plant before with biomethane gas injection into the grid, the partner choice for the project was critical for us. We found SGN to be exceptional from initial discussions about the scope of the project all the way through the technical design and build. We are excited to have them as our partner and look forward to working with them for a long time to come.

“As well as becoming a zero waste brewery, we’re also utilising alternative energies to fuel what we do, from electric delivery vehicles to using wind energy to power our brewery.”