Breweries continue to face pressure from rising taxation, wage and National Insurance increases, property costs and energy bills. As a result, many brewers are looking at what action they can take today to reduce costs and improve resilience. Here Joe Allen-Houlder from Glenfield Electrical explains how breweries can cut costs when it comes to energy usage.

Although electricity prices have eased from the peak of the energy crisis, they remain significantly higher than historic levels. Many breweries are paying around 25p/kWh for electricity today, compared with around 10p/kWh a decade ago. With brewing excluded from the British Industry Supercharger scheme, reducing consumption remains one of the few areas where businesses can take direct control.

For many breweries, solar is one of the most impactful measures available. The Spring 2024 edition of The Brewers Journal detailed how breweries such as St Austell-owned Hare Brewery in Bristol and Hydes Brewery in Greater Manchester have invested in solar to reduce their reliance on grid electricity. St Peter’s Brewery in Suffolk is reportedly saving more than £50,000 per year following the installation of a 222kW solar PV system.

Before investing in new technology, however, breweries should ensure they understand where energy is being consumed. Refrigeration, pumps, compressed air systems and production equipment can all contribute significantly to electricity usage. Monitoring consumption can often uncover low-cost savings opportunities before major capital investment is required.

Alongside solar, there are several proven technologies that can reduce consumption. Hydes Brewery has also adopted voltage optimisation, which lowers incoming voltage to a more efficient level and reduces energy wasted through overvoltage. For breweries with significant refrigeration, pumping and production loads, savings of around 5–10% are achievable.

LED lighting remains another quick win for sites still operating fluorescent or metal halide fittings, typically reducing lighting energy consumption by 50–70% while also lowering maintenance costs through a much longer operating life.

Research conducted by Glenfield Electrical earlier this year found that many businesses want to reduce energy costs but are unsure where to start. Nearly half of organisations surveyed do not actively monitor their energy usage, while 85% were unaware of available grants and funding. Despite strong interest in sustainability measures, only 10% had installed solar.

For many breweries, the challenge is not the technology itself but the upfront cost. Energy-saving measures do not always require significant capital investment. Businesses can purchase systems outright, use asset finance to spread the cost, or enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), where a third party installs and owns the solar system and sells the electricity generated at a rate typically 10–30% lower than grid electricity prices.

Businesses purchasing solar may also be able to claim Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), allowing the full cost of qualifying equipment to be deducted from taxable profits in the year of installation. Depending on the business and funding structure, this can significantly reduce the effective cost of investing in solar.

There is no single solution for every brewery, but with energy costs remaining well above historic levels, understanding where energy is being used and which measures offer the strongest return is often the first step towards reducing operating costs.