Diageo to spend additional €257.5m to double capacity of Kildare Brewery
Gordon Deegan
Guinness producer, Diageo, is set to spend an estimated additional €257.5 million on its new plan to double the brewery capacity of its €200 million state-of-the-art carbon-neutral brewery at Littleconnell, Co. Kildare.
The drinks giant is to lodge plans in the coming days with a statutory planning application notice connected to the project, confirming that Diageo is to seek a 10-year planning permission for the scheme.
It is understood that the investment in the new project will be €257.5 million and will generate 800 to 1,000 construction jobs during the construction phase.
Plans to double the brewery capacity at the site will bring Diageo’s overall investment in the area to an estimated €457.5 million.
The new plans for the 40 acre site at the IDA Newbridge Business and Technology Park at Littleconnell will include a 9,333m2 “Brewery 2’ building.
The statutory planning notice states that the total gross internal floor area of all new buildings in the application will be 14,976m2.
The scheme will also include ground mounted solar panels covering an area of 15,000m2 while space will be provided for a hard standing area to accommodate 38 HGV truck parking spaces.
Construction work at the brewery at the site has been continuing since June of last year and the proposed expansion will more than double the brewery’s capacity to 4.5 million hectolitres.
Diageo had already earmarked the Co Kildare brewery as a production hub for Diageo lager and ales including Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny and Carlsberg.
Now, the planned doubling of capacity will result in the plant becoming a production hub for Guinness and Guinness 0.0 growth in emerging markets.
St James Gate in Dublin is currently the only Diageo site in the world where Guinness 0.0 is brewed while Guinness is brewed in many locations around the world.
St. James’s Gate in Dublin will continue to brew for its largest and most established markets, including Ireland, the UK and the US.
When initially commenting on the proposed expansion in August a Diageo spokeswoman said that “while the realisation and timings of this expansion will depend on a number of external factors, it reflects Diageo’s long-standing commitment to Ireland and reinforces the country’s position as a strategic base for sustainable export-led growth”.
It is expected that the first brew for lagers and ales at the Littleconnell site will take place in 2026.
Diageo will be hoping for a smoother passage through the planning system for the new application.
Plans were lodged for the €200m brewery in July 2022 and the scheme was stalled after sole objector to the brewery, John Lynch mounted a High Court challenge seeking to quash An Bord Pleanala’s December 2023 green light for the project.
The farmer and undertaker last year withdrew his proceedings after successful mediation talks with Diageo.
