Five Years of Partnership: Driving Sustainability and Performance at Glenmorangie
Alpheus News
Operations and Maintenance
For the past five years, Alpheus has been proud to support The Glenmorangie Company in achieving its sustainability goals through the operation and maintenance of its Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant in Tain. Tasked with enhancing efficiency, optimising performance, and ensuring environmental compliance, our team has worked in close partnership with Glenmorangie to make a tangible impact.
This collaboration has delivered steady improvements in plant performance - reducing pollutants, increasing biogas yields, optimising resource use and embedding an industry-leading safety approach. But beyond the technical advancements – it is a shared commitment to safety, innovation, and teamwork that has made the difference.
In this article, we feature some of the highlights from our journey together and share the perspectives of those who have been at the heart of it - our client and a couple of our Alpheus colleagues - to bring this partnership to life.
Ed Thom, Distillery Manager, The Glenmorangie Company
“I have always found Alpheus a pleasure to work with. Balancing the hard work and pressure of trying to commission new projects alongside the production requirements of the distillery is never easy but we have always worked together guaranteeing a great result.”
UK Head of Operations, Marcus, has always had a tireless work ethic and the onsite team of Colin, Michael and Alex have been a real asset to the distillery team. Without the external expertise Alpheus supply I have no doubt the AD plant would not be as efficient at cleaning our bi-products and creating green gas. I would have no hesitation in recommending the services of Alpheus to others.”
Peter Nelson, Operations Director, The Glenmorangie Company
“Our Anaerobic Digestor at the Glenmorangie Distillery supports our commitment to move our Operations to Net Zero by 2040. It is a great circular economy example, taking wastewater, previously released directly to the environment, removing 97% of the pollutants and delivering biogas back to our energy-intensive distilling process.”
Alpheus, who has been responsible for operating the plant for the last 5 years, have steadily improved plant performance and efficiency. Pollutants have been reduced in the discharge, and gas yields improved. Technical improvements, such as the replacement of the original scrubber, have also significantly reduced chemical use. It is a real partnership, developed between the plant and the distillery, that has made the difference.”
In 2020, we were honoured to win the Best AD Support Award at the AD & Biogas Association Awards for improving performance and safety at The Glenmorangie Company AD plant after taking over operations and maintenance.
Since then the relationship has gone from strength to strength. Here are some of the highlights of the last 5 years:
Biogas production has increased by nearly a third since Alpheus has been managing the plant, from supplying around 15% of energy needs to nearly 20%. Over the last two years, the site has generated over ten million KWH of green energy for reuse on-site by maximising the efficiency of their anaerobic digester.
As a result of a successful hibernation and restart during lockdown, we heavily reduced their carbon emissions and costs on operations, waste disposal and feedstock transportation during this time.
The meticulously planned and managed hibernation process that was established during this period has not only been added to Glenmorangie’s site plan, it has also delivered further cost and efficiency savings, by allowing hibernation of Reactor during seasonal production pauses and allowing for additional proactive maintenance for ongoing optimisation of the plant.
In addition to establishing many industry-leading operational and process safety protocols across the site. This knowledge, and specialist skills, such as confined space entry enabled the delivery of several key maintenance projects, such as the tidal tank roof replacement and reactor valve replacement.
A proactive and preventative maintenance approach has led to assets, such as membranes, operating well over their designed life expectancy saving thousands of pounds per year in OPEX and capital expenditure.
Following a full assessment of the operational outputs, and a series of strategic changes to improve performance we have saved Glenmorangie in the region of £80k per year on reduction in chemical use.
Through an in-depth understanding, and ongoing monitoring and parameter adjustments to optimise performance the plant is consistently achieving 98% Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal, alongside greater renewable gas yield.
This not only protects the environment but is helping to nurture a native European oyster reef, as part of an ambitious partnership with Heriot-Watt University and the Marine Conservation Society known as the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP).
Colin Wilson, Alpheus Site Supervisor and Optimisation lead
“I have had the pleasure of working with Alpheus during the last five years at the Glenmorangie AD Plant. Throughout the Alpheus contract takeover five years ago, I played a crucial role, led by Marcus (UK Head of Operations) to ensure a smooth transition.”
Beginning as an operator, I quickly demonstrated my skills and commitment, earning a promotion to Site Supervisor and Optimisation Lead, where I support colleagues across the whole of Alpheus. One of my key achievements has been optimising plant operations, particularly enhancing the efficiency of the membrane filtration process. I feel that our proactive approach from the team here at Glenmorangie, along with the knowledge base from the whole company, has significantly improved the performance and reliability of the plant.“
Michael Carr, Alpheus Process Operator
“I’ve been with Alpheus for two years - it’s been a fantastic experience. I really enjoy working here - the support, growth opportunities, and strong team culture make it a great place to be. I look forward to continuing this journey with everyone!”
Alpheus values its team, and the chance to contribute to such a respected brand has been rewarding. The partnership with Glenmorangie is a huge achievement, and I’m proud to be part of it.”
