Dairy Innovation West (DIW) is a state-of-the-art milk concentration facility currently under construction in Lacombe County, Alberta.
The first of its kind in Canada, DIW is an important project for both the economic and environmental sustainability of Canada’s dairy industry. The facility is at the forefront of adopting innovative practices and technologies aimed at reducing emissions, aligning with the industry’s target of achieving net zero by 2050. The facility will reduce transportation costs for dairy farmers and has the potential to attract investment in more processing capacity.
Once operational, DIW will concentrate raw milk locally, so that for every three or four trucks coming into the facility from local farms, only one truck will leave with the concentrated product. The concentrated milk will then be transported to a processing plant where it will be transformed into cheese, butter, yogurt, high quality milk proteins and many other dairy products.
The facility is on track for substantial completion by November 2024, with operational testing scheduled to commence from January to March 2025. Once fully operational, the facility will have the capacity to accommodate up to 300 million litres of milk per year.
