Fred MacAulay; Richard Gueterbock, Clearfleau; Morag Garden, Environment & Scientific Affairs Manager at the Scotch Whisky Association and; Iain Robertson of SmartestEnergy (sponsor).
Clearfleau and Diageo Scotland received the prestigious Best Project
honour at the 2013 Scottish Green Energy Awards, organised by Scottish
Renewables.
Their innovative scheme, at the Dailuaine Distillery near
Charlestown-of-Aberlour, Moray, uses anaerobic digestion to extract
energy from whisky by-products such as ‘pot ale’.
Richard Gueterbock, Marketing Director at Clearfleau, said the company
was “surprised and delighted” to win the Project Award with Diageo
Scotland.
He continued: “The Dailuaine project is a great example of anaerobic
digestion on an industrial site – converting co-products into green
energy for use in the distillery.
“As an emerging British company we look forward to delivering more
Scottish projects in the food and drink sector and expect to be
employing more people in Scotland in 2014.”
The head of Scotland’s European Marine Energy Centre and a
groundbreaking local authority were also among those honoured at the
event, held at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and hosted
by comedian and BBC Radio Scotland presenter Fred MacAulay.
Fife Council – which has encouraged the construction of the world's
largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine in the coastal town of
Methil – received the prestigious Public Sector Initiative Award at the
ceremony, which was sponsored by RWE npower renewables.
Neil Kermode, Managing Director of the European Marine Energy Centre,
picked up Outstanding Contribution to the industry for his work
promoting wave and tidal energy and helping Orkney, where the centre is
based, earn the nickname of the ‘Energy Islands’.
Others celebrating at the ceremony, , included FoundOcean, whose
innovative offshore grout boosted the business from an income of zero
to £12.9 million in just three years, and the locally-owned Neilston
Community Wind Farm.
Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “This
year’s Scottish Green Energy Awards were our most competitive ever, and
with good reason. The strength of the industry in Scotland was
reflected in the calibre of nominations which we received for the
awards, and the diversity of the shortlist showed just how important
the renewables sector is increasingly becoming in providing employment
and investment across the country.
“Our congratulations go out to Clearfleau and Diageo Scotland, whose
strong entries and subsequent successes shows they are just the kind of
organisations Scotland’s renewables sector needs in order to continue
to flourish.”
Fife Council’s dedication to renewables as an economic recovery
mechanism has extended from the authority’s Renewable Energy Routemap –
a Scots first – to the Fife Renewables Innovation Centre, Methil, which
is now home to a 7MW (megawatt) offshore test turbine developed by
South Korean electronics giant Samsung.
The Neilston project, a 10MW, four-turbine wind farm in the East
Renfrewshire town, is 28% owned by local people. Its operation will
ensure a 20-year income stream to fulfil plans laid down in the
community’s 2009 Town Charter.
FoundOcean’s spectacular success was sealed with the Scottish Green
Energy Business Growth Award. The Livingston business shattered a
monopoly by developing an alternative cement for offshore
installations, driving the business to a 38% market share in 36 months
and boosting staff numbers from 39 to 134 since January 2010.
SSE’s Open4Business Highlands and Islands Portal was awarded the
Contribution to Supply Chain Development Award for a procurement system
which has attracted 800 businesses and awarded £2 million of contracts.
Fergus Ewing MSP was named Best Politician for his commitment to
renewables, while Neil Evans, environment correspondent at Holyrood
magazine, was named Best Journalist for his work covering many aspects
of the industry in Scotland.
A new award, in honour of the late Scots solar pioneer Kerr MacGregor,
was won by Glasgow company John Gilbert Architects for their work on
the Duneland Ecovillage co-housing cluster in Findhorn, Moray, which
delivers affordable heat through solar and heat pump technologies.
Dumfries & Galloway Housing Partnership – whose installation of
1,100 air-source heat pumps is the largest renewables commitment from
any social landlord in Scotland – won the Contribution to Sustainable
Development Award for their efforts.
C Speed’s LightWave Radar won the Best Innovation Award for overcoming
challenges around radar systems and wind farms, and Energy Skills
Partnership took home the hotly-contested Contribution to Skills &
Training Award for, among other things, their work with the nascent
Wind and Marine Training Network.