- Industrie
Heineken chooses Idex to decarbonise its historic brewery in France
Idex is proud to announce a partnership with Heineken to develop the Circle project put in place by the brewing company to decarbonise its sites. Unique in the beer industry, this circular project was launched at the historic Mons-en-Barœul brewery in northern France, and is scheduled to become fully operational in 2025. The aim is to transform the spent grain from beer production into a renewable energy source that will contribute to reducing on-site CO2 emissions.
A project for a low-carbon, circular beer industry
For the Circle project, the biomass is provided by spent grain, a co-product rich in fibre and protein (30%) that is often under-exploited. Every year, the beer industry in the European Union produces around 3.5 million tonnes of spent grain. A resource that remains largely untapped.
A turnkey technical solution developed by Idex
For the Circle project, the role of Idex is to finance, design, build and operate the energy infrastructure for low-carbon fuel production at the Mons-en-Barœul site. The biomass boiler plant installed by Idex will convert the spent grain into a valuable source of renewable energy, in line with Heineken’s circular approach to beer production. The spent grain will be dried and used as fuel to produce steam, making Heineken less dependent on fossil fuels.
As a responsible brewer, we want to contribute to the European Commission's goal of reducing the energy costs of the agro-industry. We will be doing this with the support of our partner Idex. It is our ambition to deploy Circle in other Heineken breweries by 2027. We believe that this project can be a game-changer, helping us to find new ways to maximize circularity within the brewing sector.
