We have combined our three-and-a-half centuries of milling
expertise with the latest technology to create the world's first
modern-day windmill near Boyndie, Banffshire, in the North East of
Scotland. Welcomed by Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for
Energy and Climate Change, the windmill begins full operations
today.
We are proud to have returned to the traditional practise of
harnessing wind, to power our milling machines at the facility by
investing £3.5m in a 2.3MW wind turbine. The new turbine
provides more than enough energy to power the mill, with any excess
being fed into the national grid.
We hope the new windmill will safeguard the rich tradition of
growing and milling oats in the north of Scotland for generations
to come.
Milling since William Lea founded the company in 1675 and now
fifteen generations later, our family is committed to its
environmentally sustainable aims and the wind turbine is the first
of many long-term initiatives to becoming a carbon neutral
business. The new facility will provide 25% of the company's
total energy needs, saving 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions
each year.
Commenting on the new facility, John Lea, managing director,
said: "When my great-great-grandfather introduced steam power into
his milling operations, he must have thought the days of the
windmill were well and truly numbered. By harnessing the
latest technology and our ancient milling expertise, we've come
full circle and are once again seeing cereal bowls across the UK
and beyond filled with oats from a Mornflake windmill.
"Anybody who has been to the north of Scotland can see that
it has fantastic conditions for driving wind turbines, but may not
know its fields grow the best quality oats in the world. It's
the perfect combination."
Mornflake is to mill all the oats in every box of its cereal
product range from our mills in Boyndie and Crewe.
The new turbine was erected on the site following an extensive
consultation process with the local community and five years of
planning. With no objections to the proposal, the
German-built turbine was erected in late November for testing.
Today's announcement was welcomed by Secretary of State for
Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, by saying: "The new
windmill is a big boost to a sustainable food
industry. By following this lead, other companies can
take advantage of the Government support for renewable technologies
which will not only lead to a reduced carbon footprint, but also
help safeguard jobs and profitability."
The world's first modern-day windmill begins powering
Mornflake's Boyndie milling operations - the most modern in Western
Europe - today.
Find out more about our windmill and how it was built here
