Wednesday, 03 May 2023 09:55

Wood pellets, heat pump to help milk plants decarbonise

Written by  Staff Reporters
Fonterra will convert coal boilers at its Hautapu site to wood pellets as part of its decarbonisation work. Fonterra will convert coal boilers at its Hautapu site to wood pellets as part of its decarbonisation work.

Fonterra says it will convert coal boilers at its Hautapu site to wood pellets as part of its decarbonisation work.

The co-operative says it will also install a heat pump at its Palmerston North milk processing site that supplies the local market.

Both projects have received 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."

Once complete in early 2024 the Hautapu site will reduce out carbon emissions by a forecast 15,785 tonnes per annum - the equivalent of taking about 6,500 cars off New Zealand's roads.

The heat pump at the Palmerston North site will convert wasted heat from the refrigeration system into a heat source. This will reduce the amount of natural gas needed for process heat. The site will also generate additional heat via a solar thermal plant.

"This GIDI co-funding will help the co-operative progress two emission reduction projects ahead of time. It will help us continue to make progress towards our target of reducing emissions by 30% across all our manufacturing operations by 2030 (from a 2018 baseline), on the way to net zero by 2050, and transitin out of coal by 2037," says Whineray.

Fonterra is receiving up to $2.5 million in co-funding to complete the work at Hautapu and $425,000 for the Palmerston North site project.

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, 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.

More like this

Fonterra trims board size

Fonterra’s board has been reduced to nine - comprising six farmer-elected and three appointed directors.

Returns 'not good enough'

Fonterra leaders are making their case for offloading the co-operative's $3 billion consumer business, noting that its return on capital has been nowhere near respectable.

Record milk price!

A record farmgate milk price for Fonterra shareholders is all but confirmed for this season.

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

National

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of…

Machinery & Products

BA Pumps expand

Cambridge based BA Pumps & Sprayers, specialists in New Zealand-made spraying equipment, has acquired Tokoroa Engineering’s product range, including the…

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Not fair

OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter