Mornflake Launches 'World's First Modern-Day Windmill'

Welcomed by Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the windmill begins full operations January 19.

The independent, family-owned company – which also owns the Hamlyns of Scotland brand –has returned to the traditional practice of harnessing wind to power its milling machines at its 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.

Famed for the quality of its porridge oats, Mornflake’s new windmill safeguards 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 15 generations later, the 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 save 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each and every 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 mills all the oats in every box of its cereal from its mills in Boyndie and Crewe. Along with popular Mornflake Oats, Mornflake makes an extensive range of deliciously light and crispy mueslis and granolas as well as the unique Mornflake Oatbran and Mornflake Organic Oats.

As well as producing Mornflake Oats and Oatbran products which are sold in over 56 countries around the world, the company also produces the Hamlyns of Scotland brand and supplies supermarket own labels to many of the major UK supermarkets.

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.

The announcement was welcomed by Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, who said: "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 on 19 January 2012.

Source: Mornflake