3 minute read - 2nd June 2025
British Sugar to make £43m decarbonisation investment
British Sugar is undertaking its biggest-ever decarbonisation project at its sugar production site in Norfolk. The new steam drying project, representing a significant investment of £43m in Wissington, will result in the removal of 50,000 tonnes of Scope 1 carbon emissions from its Wissington site footprint.
In addition to British Sugar’s own investment, the project has received a grant of £7.5m from the government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). This capital has been fundamental in the project’s development. Construction on site has commenced to ensure readiness for commissioning in autumn 2026.
Wissington, the largest of British Sugar’s four factories, is celebrating 100 years of sugar manufacturing this year, having opened in 1925. Today, it processes over three million tonnes of sugar beet every year into approximately 400,000 tonnes of sugar and numerous co-products derived from the sugar production process. This process, by nature, requires large amounts of energy in the form of heat and electricity, and although the amount of steam needed to process the sugar beet has more than halved over recent years, the site remains a high user of energy.
British Sugar is to invest £43m in its biggest-ever decarbonisation project at its sugar production site in Norfolk / Picture: British Sugar
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Currently, the site has three gas dryers that take the beet pulp, once the sugar has been extracted, and dry it, turning it into an animal feed product which is then sold into the agricultural industry. The record-breaking investment sees the installation of two new steam dryers, which will have greater integration into the rest of the sugar manufacturing process by taking steam directly from the combined heat and power (CHP) plant on site and using it to dry the pulp. The new dryers will be housed in a 25m x 15m building, around 20m tall and will be built in the heart of the site’s sugar manufacturing area.
This latest project follows a £17m investment in a new evaporator, heat exchangers and processing equipment commissioned at Wissington in autumn 2023. Together, these two projects represent an 80,000-tonne reduction in Scope 1 emissions, resulting in a 25% reduction across the site.
Phil McNaughton, head of decarbonisation at British Sugar, said: “This project would not be possible without significant investment from the government through the IETF. It marks another step-change in our decarbonisation journey at British Sugar’s Wissington factory. Removing 50,000 tonnes of Scope 1 carbon emissions per annum from our site is a significant milestone for us, and it is the single biggest decarbonisation project that we have undertaken as a business. This project brings us significantly closer to our ambition of being net zero by 2050.”
The Wissington site processes over three million tonnes of sugar beet every year into approximately 400,000 tonnes of sugar. The investment will result in the removal of 50,000 tonnes of Scope 1 carbon emissions / Picture: British Sugar
Terry Jermy, MP for South West Norfolk, added: “This investment in innovative decarbonisation technologies is essential to meeting our climate targets while ensuring economic prosperity and job creation in regions like Norfolk. I am fully supportive of British Sugar’s drive to decarbonise its operations, particularly at Wissington in my constituency, and it was a pleasure to meet some of the project team, including some passionate apprentices, during my visit earlier this year.”
