Business News

Teeling Whiskey signs gas and electricity deal with Vayu Energy

By Business & Finance
17 August 2015
Teeling Whiskey
Teeling Whiskey Company owners Stephen and Jack Teeling

The Teeling Whiskey Company, one of Ireland’s leading independent producers of Irish whiskey, has signed a gas and renewable electricity supply deal with Vayu Energy.

Valued at €250,000 per annum, the agreement will see Vayu supply Teeling Whiskey with natural gas and 100% green electricity to meet the year-round energy requirements for its newly opened distillery in Dublin’s Newmarket Square in The Liberties.

Co-owned by brothers Jack and Stephen Teeling, the Teeling Whiskey Company was founded in 2012 – reviving the Teeling family trademark of Irish whiskey making and bringing independent distilling back into the heart of Dublin. The company has gone from strength to strength over the last three years and is now at the forefront of an emerging craft distilling movement with its range of high-quality Irish whiskeys embraced both at home in Ireland and across the world in over 35 export markets.

Following a €10m investment in its new distillery, the Teeling Whiskey Company is firmly focused on capturing a larger share of the global Irish whiskey category, which has an overall value of €350m per annum and accounts for 28% of Ireland’s beverage exports.

With average growth of over 12% per annum during the last decade, the category continues to be one of Ireland’s fastest growing export sectors and now boasts sales of more than 60 million litres of Irish whiskey each year.

Sustainability is at the heart of Teeling Whiskey’s business philosophy across all its operations – from sourcing sustainable raw materials where possible to implementing sustainable production processes. Initiatives to date include the installation of a rainwater harvesting system in the distillery; the use of an onsite well to reduce water consumption; and energy optimisation measures such as the harnessing of excess energy produced during the production process to heat the visitor centre.

A critical consideration for Teeling Whiskey in choosing Vayu was as its energy partner was therefore the ability to source fully traceable, green electricity for its production facility, thereby helping to further reduce the company’s carbon footprint and minimise its impact on the environment.

The energy deal allows Teeling Whiskey to achieve significant savings in energy costs with direct access to wholesale market prices for both electricity and gas. As part of a fully managed service, Vayu will provide Teeling Whiskey with the procurement tools and advice to purchase energy at the best price available in the market. Vayu will also provide Teeling Whiskey with a bespoke reporting solution to track the distillery’s energy performance in real time and reduce overall energy costs.

Jack Teeling, founder and managing director of the Teeling Whiskey Company commented: “We take a very hands-on approach across every aspect of our production process to ensure that each bottle of Teeling is crafted to the highest standard possible. As a local craft producer, environmental sustainability is at the heart of our business model and expansion strategy. This is reflected in our partnership with Vayu, which will help us minimise our environmental footprint by providing us with green electricity with a 100% renewable rating.

“Not only does the deal provide our business with significant cost benefits through direct access to wholesale energy prices, but we are partnering with a company that has demonstrated a deep understanding and expertise of Ireland’s energy market.”

Stephen Behan, energy specialist at Vayu said: “Environmental sustainability is increasingly a driving force for many Irish companies, particularly in the food and drinks sector. As result, we’re seeing growing demand for access to renewable energy sources as businesses look to reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment. This goes hand-in-hand with cost competitiveness as businesses seek more sophisticated ways to manage their energy procurement and reduce consumption.”