Quattro Foods is a bespoke food manufacturer based in Portsmouth, producing fresh chilled soups, sauces and bespoke dishes for food service and retailers across the UK. Their recent investment in improved blast-chilling equipment would increase their energy consumption beyond what was available on site, so they looked next door to Veolia Environmental Services who produce electricity from Hampshire’s household and commercial waste.
Following the installation of underground cables, Veolia are now an additional private electricity supplier for Quattro Foods, providing 75kva to the factory. Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Veolia offer low-carbon power to their neighbour, a service which has already been in place for the Materials Recovery Facility on the Veolia site for over a year.
Managing Director of Quattro Foods Sam Brower, said: “We send our waste to Veolia and get it back in the form of electricity. This supply of electricity from Veolia has allowed us to make full use of our new equipment, reduce additional electricity costs and has also improved our carbon footprint; this means we can continue to invest in factory improvements to enhance and improve our services to the catering industry, whilst remaining competitive.”
General Manager of Veolia Environmental Services in Hampshire Lee Phelan, said: “Supplying our neighbours with electricity direct from our facility in Portsmouth means we are taking the first steps in becoming a green energy supplier while building a network which could in future supply the area with combined heat and power.”
Portsmouth ERF, like the other Veolia facilities in Hampshire, has connections to enable the supply of combined heat and power. A local network needs to be installed to allow this, as with other Veolia-operated plants in Sheffield and London. This supply of electricity is the first step in building that network.