Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI) is taking a major step towards reducing its carbon dioxide emissions at a dairy level. A newly completed investment in a new heating system for production tower 4 at the Danmark Protein plant in Videbæk will deliver annual savings of 2,500 tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to the annual heating consumption of more than 900 households using natural gas.

In Videbæk, whey is processed into a range of ingredient and protein products. As part of the €8.3 million project, the tower is being converted from operating with a gas heater to being able to switch between heat from the plant’s existing steam system and a new electric heater. This will reduce the use of natural gas and allow renewable electricity to take over part of the operation. Calculations show that tower 4 will be able to operate 100% on renewable electricity for 23% of the time.

“This is one of those investments where we simultaneously improve operational reliability, strengthen security of supply and reduce our climate impact. The fact that we can achieve such a large reduction through a single solution highlights the potential of electrifying our production,” says Mogens Bøgh Pedersen, director of the Danmark Protein plant.

“While the new heating system in tower 4 is now operational, a similar project is being planned for tower 5. Here, the gas heating system will also be replaced by a combined steam and electric heating solution. Together, the investments in towers 4 and 5 will reduce CO₂emissions by up to 5,200 tonnes annually, equivalent to the annual heating consumption of more than 1,900 households,” he adds.