What is a KTP project?

KTP stands for Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

A KTP project is a project that links keen businesses and existing knowledge bases to help them develop and achieve innovative projects.

What KTP project is Windswept a part of?

Windswept is part of a two-year KTP project aimed at adopting sustainable energy and waste management technologies for the microbrewery sector.

This project is run in partnership with The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) through her partners – UHI Moray, Environmental Research Institute (ERI), Institute of Northern Studies (INS) and the North of Scotland KTP Centre. It is funded by Innovate UK.

Chizaram Chinguzorom is the KTP Associate taking the lead on the project. Chizaram relocated to Moray in June 2022 for the project and spends half of time in Lossiemouth at the Brewery and the other half of his time at UHI Moray in Elgin.

What are the goals of the project?

The goal is to first find ways to reduce Windswept’s environmental impact and improve economic sustainability. Once this is accomplished, we will then to find ways to share this knowledge with other small breweries, enabling the whole microbrewery sector to work towards net zero.

This will be accomplished by identifying, selecting and deploying sustainable energy and waste management innovations that will improve energy efficiency in brewing operations, conserve resources and reduce wase and wastewater generation at the brewery.

Why is Windswept involved?

Windswept is passionate about adopting sustainability measures as part of everyday business. Our aim is to brew the best beer possible while having as small of an environmental impact as possible.
We already do what we can to embody sustainability in our business; from choose packing materials that cut down on waste to using energy saving LED lights in our warehouses and electric heating throughout the brewery.

We have also been involved in other sustainability projects in the past, such as the Moray LEADER funded “Field to Firkin” project which investigated ways to create a local brewery supply chain in Moray. Some good discoveries were made and the result was our Elderflower Pale Ale, Pioneer. (Pioneer will be making a comeback this year, sign up to our mailing list using the form at the bottom of this page if you want to be notified when it does release!)

Windswept is excited to be a part of this KTP project because it can be hard for a microbrewery to have a big impact. The brewing process by its nature requires a high amount of energy and water. Plus most microbreweries hire space instead of owning it, meaning they are limited in any changes they can make to the building such as adding solar panels. Windswept director, Nigel Tiddy, is a fervid supporter of sustainability and is eager to search out new ways to improve the processes.

What next?

We hope we’ve raised your interest and that this is something you are excited to see more of! Look out for our next post in which we will cover what specific sustainability challenges exist in the mircobrewing industry.