Pepsi to trial renewable electricity system

PepsiCo recently announced plans to phase out the use of natural gas and adopt a renewable electricity system in its Netherlands factory. A first for the company, it claims the renewable model could become a template for the rest of its operations and the industry.

The project will be taking place in the Dutch town of Broek op Langedijk, located 90 km north of Amsterdam, where Pepsi produces 1.6 million bags of its Lays and Cheetos products annually. It will use renewable energy sources to replace the usage of 4.5 million m² of gas, and is predicted to reduce CO₂ emissions by 8500 t annually. The price of gas in Europe has risen substantially as a result of the war in Russia and Ukraine, and the reduction of gas usage has become a priority in the Netherlands.

The system will use an electrical resistance heater to convert electricity into heat, a heat storage system and heat transfer to circulate the thermal oil that powers the factory’s fryers. In the first phase, it will replace a 25 MW gas-fired boiler in the factory, cutting emissions in half.

“If this works, we can replicate it in other locations all around the world,” said Japo Ouwerkerk, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, Pepsico Benelux North West Europe.

Electricity will be supplied from solar and wind farms by Dutch energy company Eneco, owned by Mitsubishi. The heat storage system will be built by German company Kraftblock.

Construction is set to be completed by the end of 2023.