A consortium led by Supercritical Solutions has been awarded £2.94 million from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to scale up hydrogen technology and conduct hydrogen trials at Beam Suntory's Glen Garioch distillery in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Over the course of the 21-month project, Supercritical will advance its technology and complete an industrial hydrogen trial at Glen Garioch to produce approximately 57,000 bottles of hydrogen-distilled whisky — the first hydrogen-fired bottles of whisky ever created at industrial scale. The quality of the spirit will be assessed by Beam Suntory's experts as it matures, with the finished product expected to be ready sometime after 2025. With the funding, Supercritical plans to double the size of its team, providing skilled jobs in the UK's green hydrogen sector.
Matt Bird, CEO at Supercritical, said: "Supercritical is thriving in today's drive to decarbonise and leading the transition for change in the UK's clean-tech sector. We welcome this continued support to bring our next generation electrolysis technology to the next level to help decarbonise the whisky sector in the UK, and look forward to the export opportunities that it will facilitate in zero-emission whisky as well as electrolyser technology."
Alistair Longwell, Senior Manager of Scotch Distillation and Maturation Operations at Beam Suntory, said: "We are very pleased to extend and expand upon our partnership with Supercritical, and we are looking forward to hosting these industrial trials at our Glen Garioch distillery. Innovative technologies like Project WhiskHy will be critical in securing a green future for our industry, and for our planet, and we're proud to play a role in making this green future a reality, in line with our Proof Positive commitments."