Barcadi rum is the favourite tipple of many Australians and now the spirit will be a little bit greener courtesy of wind power.
Barcadi recently unveiled the largest wind turbine installation in Puerto Rico to help power Bacardi’s global distillery near San Juan.
The two Bacardi wind turbines are industrial scale at 250kW each and are owned by Cataño-based Aspenall Energies, which will sell the electricity produced to Bacardi under a power purchase agreement. With their blades, the turbines are nearly 42 metres high and have a rotor diameter of just under 23 metres.
"Puerto Rico relies on fossil fuels for virtually all its energy, so we hope other companies will follow this great leadership by Bacardi to use wind energy and other renewable energy sources," said Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuño.
The two wind turbines will generate approximately a million kilowatt hours of electricity per year and provide three to seven percent of Bacardi’s distillery electricity needs; helping the company avoid over 900 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually
According to Jon Grey, vice president of global operations for Bacardi, the company has a strong record in environmental stewardship. It pioneered and patented the anaerobic treatment of distillery wastewater now used by other companies around the world to create biogas that is fed into the boilers to help power distilleries.
Bacardi also captures carbon dioxide produced during the fermentation process and sells it to third parties; mostly for carbonated beverages. The company treats wastewater at its Cataño site, which is then used in cooling towers during the production process and saves 22,000 gallons of water each day. Bacardi also recycles its old ageing barrels by turning them into woodchips that are given to employees as mulch for their gardens.
