Diageo has been granted planning permission to move forward with the construction of a new €200m ($215m) brewery in Ireland.
While approval for the proposed brewery in County Kildare was granted in March, one local man’s appeal on environmental grounds stalled the planning process. The London-based brewer and spirits giant has now been given the green light to move forward with the project.
Diageo had warned An Bord Pleanála, the Irish authority that grants permission, that delays to the approval process could “jeopardise the rationale” of the project. An Bord Pleanála stated at the time it had a backlog of cases to get through. It has now waved through the plans.
“We welcome the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for Ireland’s first purpose-built, carbon-neutral brewery in Kildare. This €200m investment by Diageo in Ireland will support the growth of our beer brands while meeting our targets to be net zero by 2030. The benefits of this project are compelling, and we expect work to commence in early 2024,” a spokesperson for Diageo said.
The brewery in Newbridge will consist of a 98,000-square-foot main brewing facility. The site will include a brewhouse, storage and handling areas. When completed, the production centre will be Ireland’s second-largest brewing facility, with a capacity of two million hectolitres annually.
Diageo has previously said the production of its ale and beer brands, such as Hop House 13, Harp, Smithwick’s and Kilkenny, would be moved to the Kildare site from St. James’s Gate in Dublin.
By removing other brands from the St. James’s Gate site in Dublin, the plan is to make the brewery in the Irish capital more capable of upping its Guinness production. When Diageo announced its plans for the site in Kildare last year, the company said it would look to upgrade the Dublin plant with the installation of renewable technologies.
In June, Diageo expanded the production capacity for its non-alcoholic stout Guinness 0.0 with a €25m ($27m) investment at its St. James’s Gate facility.
Last week, Axios reported Diageo was seeking to sell a clutch of assets in beer but retain Guinness, its flagship brand in that market.
The company has no plans to divest any of its beer brands, Just Drinks understands.
