• The facility, which will be executed and operated by Magnon Servicios Energéticos, will reduce direct CO2 emissions from the factory located in Guadalajara by 95%
• With an associated investment of more than 15 million euros, the project is part of the company’s decarbonization roadmap, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality for all its production centers by 2030
• This brewery, the largest in the country and one of the highest producers in Europe, is a benchmark within the sector in process efficiency, valorization and responsible consumption of resources
Madrid, September 19, 2024.- Mahou San Miguel, a 100% Spanish family-owned beverage company and leader in the brewing sector in our country, is advancing on its decarbonization roadmap with an ambitious project that will allow it to reduce direct CO2 emissions from its factory in Alovera (Guadalajara) by 95%. This will be done thanks to the collaboration of Magnon Servicios Energéticos, a subsidiary of the Ence Group, which will lead the construction, start-up and operation of a facility to generate thermal energy from biomass, a renewable, safe and clean source of energy.
With an estimated cost of more than 15 million euros, Ence, through its subsidiary Magnon Servicios Energéticos, will invest and execute the project at the brewery’s facilities, also assuming the operation, maintenance and supply of thermal energy in the form of superheated water. The biomass plant will operate in combination with the existing natural gas installation, drastically reducing the use of this fossil fuel by the company. The biomass supplied will have the SURE certification, which accredits its sustainable supply and production.
“We are aware of the need to promote changes in the production system and we are moving forward decisively in solutions that allow us to optimize our processes and reduce our environmental impact as much as possible” – says Nicolás Castrejón, Director of Operations at Mahou San Miguel – “Within our unique industrial footprint, Alovera plays a key role in promoting energy efficiency and self-generation projects that we will extend to the rest of the company’s production centers to achieve carbon neutrality in 2030” – he adds.
“We are convinced that the decarbonization of industrial thermal demand is one of the great challenges of the energy transition” – explains Lidia Roca, General Manager of Magnon Servicios Energéticos, – “within the framework of the change in the energy model towards a decarbonized and renewable system, the Ence Group offers sustainable energy solutions, products and services through the most cutting-edge technologies”.
The forecast of both companies is to start the execution works in the first quarter of 2025 so that the facility is operational in 2026.
More than 220 million euros to promote sustainability
The biomass plant at the Alovera factory is one of the 19 projects included in the first line of aid granted by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, within the framework of the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) for industrial decarbonisation of our country that will allow a reduction of 551,000 million tons of CO2 per year.
It is also part of Mahou San Miguel’s “Vamos 2030” Plan, a ten-year roadmap endowed with more than 220 million euros to promote sustainability throughout its entire value chain with measurable objectives and goals. Within the natural habitat axis, the company has committed to achieving carbon neutrality in all its production centres by 2030.
In achieving this objective, the Alovera facilities play a key role due to their size and relevance within the company’s map of operations, which, with eight breweries and four natural mineral water springs in Spain, has the largest industrial footprint in the sector.
The plant located in Guadalajara stands out as the largest brewery in Spain, ranking in the top 3 in terms of production at European level, with a capacity of seven million hectolitres per year. This makes it a spearhead and a benchmark in many aspects, also due to its optimal environmental performance and the use of innovative technologies and eco-efficient practices. The centre has a photovoltaic solar park for self-consumption with an installed capacity of 4.3 MW peak and uses 100% renewable electricity. Furthermore, 15% of the thermal energy used in its production is already self-generated and, like the rest of the company’s plants, it is zero waste thanks to its valorisation and reuse in other processes.
Biomass, a key element of industrial decarbonisation
One of the identifying features of Ence’s value proposition is its extensive supply capacity, as well as its leadership and extensive experience in the comprehensive and sustainable management of biomass. In this way, Ence guarantees its clients a local, sustainable and certified resource, through which industrial companies will be able to reduce their CO2 emissions and decarbonise their activity.
Thanks to Ence’s long history in the operation of biomass energy generation assets, its clients can outsource the management of their energy needs, allowing them to meet their decarbonisation objectives through a tailored, efficient model that produces economic advantages, reduces operational risks and has a high-value socio-environmental impact on the territory, contributing to the structuring and development of the rural environment.
About Mahou San Miguel
Family-owned company, leader in beverages in our country and 100% Spanish. It has 10 brewing centres –eight in Spain and two in the USA–, four water springs and a team of nearly 4,000 professionals. It produces more than 70% of the Spanish beer consumed outside our borders and is present in more than 70 countries. It has more than 130 years of history that begins with the birth of Mahou in 1890. In 2000 Mahou acquired San Miguel, in 2004 the Canarian brand Reina, in 2007 Cervezas Alhambra and in 2011 it diversified its business by incorporating Solán de Cabras. Since 2019, it has been the majority shareholder of the North American craft breweries Founders Brewing and Avery Brewing. It has a wide portfolio of national beers, including Mahou Cinco Estrellas, San Miguel Especial and Alhambra Reserva 1925, and international beers.
It has innovative and category-creating products such as San Miguel 0.0, San Miguel ECO or Mahou Barrica; natural mineral water brands, such as the iconic Solán de Cabras, and has entered the cider segment with La Prohibida. It has also been a pioneer in the sector by launching its ecommerce: Tienda Mahou San Miguel. With a focus on people and contributing to the economic and social progress of our country, it is a charitable company that channels its social action through the Mahou San Miguel Foundation, created in 2013.
About Ence – Energía y Celulosa
Ence – Energía y Celulosa is the European leader in the production of eucalyptus cellulose, the first Spanish company in the production of renewable energy with agricultural and forestry biomass, and the leader in Spain in the comprehensive and responsible management of forest surfaces and crops.
Through its subsidiary, Magnon Servicios Energéticos, it contributes to the decarbonisation of Spanish industry thanks to the sale of renewable industrial heat. This subsidiary designs, develops and executes comprehensive solutions for the decarbonisation of its clients’ energy consumption, supported by the extensive experience of the Ence Group, and its renewable subsidiary Magnon Green Energy, in the management of sustainable and certified biomass.
Magnon Servicios Energéticos thus provides industries with innovative decarbonisation solutions for industrial thermal applications, using a renewable and manageable generation source: agroforestry biomass. This is a local, sustainable and certified resource, through which industrial companies can reduce their CO2 emissions and decarbonise their activity.
