Global drinks giant Diageo has signed a deal with energy company Dalkia to build a £65m biomass plant at Cameronbridge, Fife, to reuse distillation waste.

The facility is to become the biggest UK renewable energy plant to belong to a non-utility company.

The plant will process distillation waste known as spent wash and use it to generate 98% of the thermal steam and 80% of electrical power for use at the distillery. Co2 emissions at the distillery will be cut by 56,000 tonnes.

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There will be no need to transport 90,000 tonnes of the whiskey waste away from the distillery.

Bryan Donaghey, managing director of Diageo Scotland,said: "This will be a showcase bio-energy facility which harnesses a variety of green technologies in a project of an unprecedented scale in our industry."

(GK/JM)