09 December 2008 18:11
£22,000 E.ON SOURCE grant helps Hebridean community centre make the most of distillery energy

Energy company E.ON has given a £22,000 grant under it's SOURCE community initiative towards the cost of upgrading the heating system at the Mactaggart Community Leisure Centre on Islay.

With the grant, the centre which currently uses waste heat from the local Morrison Bowmore whisky distillery will now be able to improve the system, allowing more waste heat to be recycled as well as saving on costs and carbon emissions.

Tony Jenkin Jones, Community Relations Executive at E.ON, said:  "The Mactaggart centre really impressed us with their creative reuse of heat energy from the distillery as well as commitment to the environment.

"This is a fantastic project and we're delighted to be able to award them the funding they need to help them realise their green development aims and save money on fuel costs."

The Mactaggart centre is Islay's largest and most well used facility, attracting up to 25,000 people a year including local community groups and tourists. The system provides heating for the facility, as well as for the swimming pool and showers.

Gary Scott, General Manager of Islay and Jura Enterprises said: "We're absolutely thrilled that we've been selected to receive SOURCE funding from E.ON and make improvements to our heating system.

"The upgrades we'll be able to make will help us to use the waste heat from the distillation process in a much more efficient and environmentally-friendly way to heat the swimming pool water and the air and hot water cylinder. And the visual display unit will allow the local community and visitors to see in action the difference we're making to the environment."

E.ON launched its SOURCE fund in 2007 to help with the costs of sustainable energy projects for community buildings.

The fund is backed up by the SOURCE website, which provides information and advice for community groups seeking to become more energy efficient or generate their energy from sustainable sources.

The website, which contains full details of how to apply for a grant, can be accessed at www.eon-uk.com/source.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and have recently completed one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next 10 years, through the Energy Technologies Institute;
• Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;

For more information, photos and / or to arrange interviews, contact:

Rebecca Bieniaszewska on 024 7618 3202