How PepsiCo is reducing carbon emissions through industrial electrification
Project facts
- Client
- PepsiCo
- Location
- Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
- Date
- 2024 - 2026
- Challenge
- Implement structures and site adjustments to enable industrial electrification and support PepsiCo's decarbonisation ambitions while maintaining production.
- Solution
- Worked closely with the on-site operational team and stakeholders to prepare the existing factory for industrial electrification and thermal energy storage without interrupting production.
PepsiCo is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. As part of its Climate Transition Plan, PepsiCo is transitioning from natural gas to electrical power at its potato chip production plant in Broek op Langedijk. This project is the first industrial electrification project with high temperature storage in the Netherlands. It is expected to reduce CO2 emissions at the plant by more than 50% and, ultimately, by as much as 98%.
Why net-zero manufacturing requires new heat solutions
One of the challenges for electrifying industrial sites is making a business case in an environment where electricity costs can be high. This is where a combination of electrical heaters and high-temperature thermal storage comes in. It enables heat to be produced and stored when electricity costs are favourable. It’s an innovative solution developed by sustainable energy company Eneco in partnership with PepsiCo. Hot air produced by an electrical heater is passed through a large container of iron slag-based material which retains heat. When required, the stored heat is transferred to PepsiCo’s thermal oil system.
One of PepsiCo’s requirements from the electrification solution was that it should not impact the potato chip production process. “We wanted to decarbonise but we didn’t want to change the way we operate - the way we fry our potatoes,” said Geert Jan Euverman, Senior Category Manager for Procurement Energy and Waste Management EMEA at PepsiCo.
He added that during the development phase the company had minimised involvement from the team at Broek op Langedijk so they could continue to focus on their core business running the plant.
This meant that when it came to preparing the production site for electrification and thermal storage, it was important to ensure the plans worked on the ground and that the project was embraced locally. This is where Haskoning came in.
Integrating thermal storage technology into existing plants
It's a beautiful project, producing potato chips more sustainably, and it required a major transformation to make it possible
PepsiCo contracted us to prepare the local site for the transformation. Besides constructing new buildings, we installed a new potato conveyor system throughout the factory and relocated several key functions, including the potato intake area. It was like performing open-heart surgery on a live production site. We had to relocate essential operations without interrupting production.
We were looking for a combination of things
First, resources – they need to be knowledgeable so they know the questions to ask, can go back to their organisation to get the right expertise on the table and have the right capabilities to organise what needs to be done. We required people who can integrate well. What was special was how Haskoning became part of the project team, the right hand of our engineering manager.
Stakeholder collaboration as a key success factor
Coordinating with the local team was essential to understand how to implement changes without interrupting local processes.We developed a strong working relationship where we really became one team, all committed to the success of the project
Everything we did needed to work not just for the electrification process but operationally too. This is why it was so important we were aligned and that the local team took ownership and embraced the transformation.
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