The new purpose-built, containerised external energy centre is designed to provide a sustainable biomass heat source for the site over the next 10 years, and will allow Unipart to achieve considerable cost and carbon reductions. Approximately 668 tonnes of carbon will be saved a year amounting to around £10,000 worth of savings on the company’s liability in the Government CRC energy efficiency scheme. It will also bring the additional benefit of greatly reduced maintenance costs by using biomass energy compared to those for previous heating systems.

As part of the agreement, E.ON will take over responsibility and management of the existing 1.6MW gas boilers at the site, which will be used during periods of high heat demand or during maintenance periods for the new biomass installation. Overall, the development forms part of an ongoing energy efficiency drive by Unipart, supported by E.ON, with follow-up projects at additional sites already being explored.

“We’re looking forward to working with Unipart to deliver energy efficient heating that will bring significant benefits to the company in terms of cost and carbon emissions, and help the company to deliver on its ongoing commitment and passion for environmental management," said Thomas Buss from E.ON Connecting Energies. “Developing innovative, smarter and lower carbon technology is a key part of our work, and this is a great example of what our On-Site Generation team is doing to bring the benefits of innovation and knowledge that help organisations to streamline their energy consumption and make valuable savings.”