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and job creation, as well as becoming a significant trading opportunity to support their financial position. Under the watchful eye of Jim Gillon from the Energy, Major Projects and Development team at Gateshead, this project developed and in March 2017 the initial scheme launched supplying public buildings such as Gateshead Civic Centre, the Sage Gateshead, BALTIC and Gateshead College – and homes managed by the Gateshead Council. In 2017 Gateshead Council were presented with the Visionary Project Award by the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) at its 50th anniversary awards ceremony at the Science Museum in London. The special award ceremony was recognising the most significant schemes of the past decade, as well as looking for those schemes setting the bar for the next decade of energy initiatives.
It is always nice to be the first, the first anything and Gateshead company GB Lubricants as part of their initiative to reduce carbon and use sustainable energy for their manufacturing plant are the first private company to engage and embrace this scheme. I took a trip to Gateshead to explore more and see this DES from an operational perspective and to visit GB Lubricants so I could see first-hand their operational switch to green energy. GB Lubricants are striving to be an industry leader when it comes to sustainability and are committed to minimising its impact on the environment.
The company, which has been manufacturing and supplying high quality oils and lubricants since 1877, has achieved the coveted EcoVadis Gold rating in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability for the third year in a row, in 2022. To put this achievement into perspective, the certification puts GB Lubricants within the top five percent of all companies evaluated worldwide by EcoVadis for the company’s sustainability credentials.
DES Borehole
What does the future bring for this project? By 2030 solar panels and water pumps across Gateshead town centre could heat over 20 public buildings, 1250 homes and Gateshead’s new Arena and Conference Centre. Two operational solar parks will be generating 3.6MW and new housing developments will be built incorporating this new energy moving the town one step closer to net zero carbon future.
Both Gateshead Energy Company, and the Council, have committed to becoming net zero emissions by 2030, and in addition to the minewater and solar parks built so far, continue to explore more options to green up their energy supplies – exploring deep geothermal sources, green hydrogen, cooling networks and EV charging points.
Thanks to pioneers such as Gateshead Council, this District Green Energy Scheme case study is being considered across Europe and beyond.
GB Lubricants’ Managing Director Paul Booth is on a mission to ensure a positive and prosperous future not only for the company, its workforce and local community, but also the industry and the planet. To retain the EcoVadis Gold rating, GB Lubricants has had to continuously raise the bar. Their gold award is the culmination of incremental improvements in many areas of business activities including environment, labour, human rights and ethics. The company is already working hard to retain the gold award in 2023.
The Energy Centre
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LUBE MAGAZINE NO.174 APRIL 2023
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