Belfast-based ice cream manufacturer Riada is set to save 70% on their annual energy bills after teaming up with leading heating engineering specialists BS Holdings and local wood pellet fuel supplier brites.

The partnership has involved the installation of an innovative biomass boiler system by BS Holdings which is enabling the busy ice cream producer to cut its carbon emissions by 97% and completely remove the cost of heating at the Belfast facility for the next 20 years through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). 

Brian Hood, Managing Director, BS Holdings said: "With the cost of traditional energy a contributing factor to rising operating costs, businesses are increasingly turning to energy efficiency as a way to not just be more sustainable, but also cut their overheads.

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"Our team installed a 66kw biomass boiler that along with the government's RHI will ensure that the technology pays for itself in less than 12 months, and will allow Riada to get on with delivering for their customers in a sustainable and cost-effective manner."

The investment in the modularised brites wood pellets fuelled system is part of Riada's commitment to boost the use of renewable technologies and make savings.

Norman Adair, from Riada, added: "Like all businesses across Northern Ireland we have been hit by the increasing cost of our energy bills. While our business is energy intensive, we felt that the costs we were paying out previously in electricity bills were an excessive sum for a small organisation such as ourselves.

"We take our commitment to the environment seriously, but also needed to find a way of cutting bills without jeopardising production of our ice cream. "From our initial meeting with BS Holdings we realised that they offer the ideal solution for our manufacturing business, helpful and knowledgeable at each stage of the process. The personal touch and one contact for the entire process made everything easy."

(CD/JP)