Kraft Heinz to build its first green hydrogen plant to power UK ops

US food giant The Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) on Monday announced plans for its first green hydrogen plant, a 20-MW facility to be built at the Kitt Green food processing site in the UK.

Kraft Heinz has signed an agreement with UK independent energy infrastructure developer Carlton Power to build the GBP-40-million (USD 51.0m/EUR 46.9m) facility in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

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Kraft Heinz’ project envisages the installation of an electrolyser to be powered by renewable energy sources, primarily wind and solar. The planned capacity will meet more than 50% of Kitt Green’s annual natural gas demand and reduce its carbon emissions by 16,000 tonnes per year.

The proposed plant is expected to become operational in 2026. The project is subject to planning approval, which the two companies will work on over the next 12 to 18 months. They will also seek to obtain grant funding and operational financial support from the UK Department of Energy Supply and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The Kitt Green plant is one of the largest food processing facilities in Europe and one of the largest Kraft Heinz sites in the world, producing a quarter of a million tonnes of food annually.

“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,” said Jojo Lins De Noronha, president of Northern Europe at Kraft Heinz.

The Kitt Green site marks the fifth green hydrogen project undertaken by Carlton Power in the UK. In December, the British firm, in partnership with Schroders Greencoat, secured three green hydrogen projects totalling 55 MW in the UK government’s first hydrogen allocation round (HAR1). Another green hydrogen scheme is underway in Stirling in Scotland.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.276/EUR 1.173)