Proposed project has the potential to fuel at least 50% of Kraft Heinz’s Kitt Green manufacturing plant, helping to reduce carbon emissions and advance the company towards its larger net zero ambitions. Kitt Green is Carlton Power’s fifth green hydrogen project it’s developing in the UK.
LONDON & WIGAN, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) (“Kraft Heinz”) has signed an agreement with Carlton Power, the UK energy infrastructure development company, to study the development of a renewable green hydrogen plant at its Kitt Green manufacturing plant in Wigan, Greater Manchester.
Kitt Green is one of the largest food processing plants in Europe and one of the largest Kraft Heinz facilities in the world, producing a quarter of a million tons of food annually and employing approximately 850 people.
The proposed 20MW Kitt Green hydrogen plant, the first to be taken forward by Kraft Heinz globally, will meet more than 50% of the plant’s annual natural gas demand and reduce the plant’s carbon emissions by 16000T/yr. The hydrogen will be produced by an electrolyser using electricity generated from sources of renewable energy, primarily wind and solar power.
The Kitt Green project is the fifth green hydrogen project that Carlton Power is taking forward within the UK.
Eric Adams, Hydrogen Projects Director at Carlton Power, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Kraft Heinz to bring forward a green hydrogen facility at Kitt Green to help the company accelerate its efforts to decarbonise their operations. It is critical that projects like this are brought forward to support British companies, especially in manufacturing, in reducing their carbon emissions and reaching Net Zero.”
Jojo Lins De Noronha, President, Northern Europe, The Kraft Heinz Company, said: “Our agreement with Carlton Power is an important step forward in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve our global goal of net zero emissions by 2050, with a 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2030. We’re excited to partner together to develop our first, renewable hydrogen energy project globally and hope to see more projects like these in the future.”
Subject to planning approval and financing, the £40m Carlton/Kraft Heinz renewable hydrogen scheme is earmarked to enter operation in 2026. Its construction will be contingent on securing financial support from the UK Government’s second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) of the Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM), which the Government has launched to support UK industry’s switch to hydrogen and encourage growth of the hydrogen economy across the country.
Over the next 12-18 months, Kraft Heinz and Carlton Power will seek to obtain planning permission for the scheme. In parallel, the two companies will work together to obtain grant funding and operational financial support from the UK Department of Energy Supply and Net Zero (DESNZ) with a target to deliver hydrogen to Kitt Green in 2026/27. A submission to DESNZ will be made this year (via HAR2), following consultations with local and national stakeholders.
The green hydrogen scheme is Carlton Power’s third to be developed in the North West of England and its second in the Greater Manchester region, the others being at Trafford in Greater Manchester which received planning consent in 2021 and at Barrow-in-Furness (South Cumbria) which was consented in June 2023. In December 2023, these two projects, (as well as Carlton’s Langage scheme near Plymouth, Devon) secured financial support through the Government’s Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1).
In 2021, Kraft Heinz announced its goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operational footprint (Scope 1 and Scope 2) and entire global supply chain (Scope 3) by 2050.
ABOUT THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY
We are driving transformation at The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC), inspired by our Purpose, Let’s Make Life Delicious. Consumers are at the centre of everything we do. With 2022 net sales of approximately $26 billion, we are committed to growing our iconic and emerging food and beverage brands on a global scale. We leverage our scale and agility to unleash the full power of Kraft Heinz across a portfolio of six consumer-driven product platforms. As global citizens, we’re dedicated to making a sustainable, ethical impact while helping feed the world in healthy, responsible ways. Learn more about our journey by visiting www.kraftheinzcompany.com or following us on LinkedIn.
Download the latest Kraft Heinz ESG report to learn more about our climate ambitions and progress at www.kraftheinzcompany.com/esg.
ABOUT CARLTON POWER
Carlton Power has 25 years of development experience in the UK including bringing forward over 3.5GW of gas fired generation and 8MW of solar, with c2.5GW of energy storage at various stages of development. It has offices in Stokesley (north Yorkshire) and Edinburgh. Carlton is developing similar green hydrogen schemes at Trafford in Greater Manchester, Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria), Langage (Plymouth) in Devon and Stirling in Scotland, as well as one of the world’s largest battery energy storage schemes – also at Trafford. The company is a member of Hydrogen UK, North West Hydrogen Alliance, Hydrogen South West and the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association. www.carltonpower.co.uk & project website URL – TBA.
In December 2023, Carlton was successful in Round One of the UK Government’s HAR1. The company’s first phase projects – at Trafford, Barrow-in-Furness and Langage – were each awarded financial contracts for each of the schemes by DESNZ. Subject to reaching Financial Investment Decisions in the early part of this year, these projects should enter commercial operation within two years. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hydrogen-production-business-model-net-zero-hydrogen-fund-shortlisted-projects/hydrogen-production-business-model-net-zero-hydrogen-fund-har1-successful-projects
In May 2023, Carlton Power and Schroders Greencoat, the specialist investment manager, formed a joint venture company, Green Hydrogen Energy Company Ltd (“GHECO”), to accelerate the development of green hydrogen projects in the UK. GHECO is aiming to build a project portfolio in the UK of 500MW by 2030.
In October 2023, Business Green listed Carlton Power in its list of Top 50 green pioneers in the UK – principally for the company’s work in green hydrogen across the country.
Contacts
The Kraft Heinz Company:
Rosie Brierley, Corporate Communications Manager: Rosie.Brierley@KraftHeinz.com
Marissa Munnings, Corporate Communications Director: Marissa.Munnings@KraftHeinz.com
Carlton Power
Eric Adams, Projects Director: eadams@carltonpower.co.uk / 07803 085942
Paul Taylor, Taylor Keogh Communications: paul@taylorkeogh.com / 07966 782611
