A £4.5 million low carbon refrigeration system that will enable an ice cream brand to cut energy use by up to 80% has taken a significant step forward towards completion.
Aberdeenshire-based Mackie’s of Scotland has installed a six metre tall, double drum spiral freezer which will chill the ice-cream more quickly.
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It comes after the completion of the plant room which saw successful test runs of its four new ammonia compressors last month as the family-run business aims to become the greenest company in Britain.
Yzanne Turbett, project manager, said: “The installation of the spiral freezer marks a major milestone in this project. In our early planning phase we had no inclination of the problems which the country would face last year and the building work was indeed delayed at the start of the first lockdown.
“Despite these ongoing challenges we have managed to finish our plant room which contains the core of the new refrigeration system that will be fully operational later this year.
“This is a much more complex project than Mackie’s has ever taken on before, with so many different aspects to the build and new technology to be implemented.”
The first of its kind in Scotland, the entire project, due to be finally completed by Autumn this year, is targeting ambitious CO2 savings of up to 80% and energy costs of 70-80%.
The project successfully qualified for support of a £2.05 million grant from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, part-funded by the 2014-2020 European Regional Development Fund programme, and will be matched by investment of more than £2.5 million by Mackie’s.
