In the past month, the Co-operative Group announced two partnerships with solar companies to provide clean electricity to its properties.
The first was what the company calls a “major partnership” between the Midcounties Co-operative and Big Solar Co-op, which will see the installation of solar panels at 29 food, travel, childcare and corporate headquarters locations.
These solar panels will aim to provide enough renewable electricity to meet approximately 5% of the company’s electricity needs.
The partnership with Big Solar Co-op will also reduce energy costs, reducing electricity bills by around £180,000 annually by generating more than 1.5 million kW of electricity per year.
Mike Pickering, head of sustainability at the Midcounties Co-operative, said: “By integrating solar energy generation into our operations, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint, but also furthering our commitment to a fairer , build a more sustainable and ethical system. future.”
More recently, the Co-op, as a wider group, signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to use the clean energy produced by ScottishPower Renewables’ Coldham solar farm in Cambridgeshire.
Under this agreement, the co-op will purchase 100% of the electricity produced by more than 19,000 solar panels on ScottishPower’s 9MW site.
The Coldham solar farm has been developed as part of ScottishPower Renewables’ organic pipeline. It is co-located with SPR’s existing Coldham wind farm and benefits from the site’s existing efficiencies in terms of land, grid connections and other operational elements.
“The launch of the Coldham solar farm, as a result of our PPA with ScottishPower Renewables, demonstrates the Co-op’s commitment to achieving net zero,” said Shirine Khoury-Haq, CEO of the Co-op.
“We believe the government should make decarbonising the electricity grid a top priority. However, businesses still have a role to play, and this solar farm is a further step in Co-op’s approach to sourcing renewable energy through a combination of PPAs and embedded generation.”
ScottishPower Renewables will provide Co-op with a peak capacity of 9MW of clean energy – which is enough to power the equivalent of around 55 Co-op food stores.
Charlie Jordan, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, said: “We are delighted to be working with companies who understand the importance of decarbonising their operations. By securing long-term commitments, PPAs provide stability and certainty and ultimately accelerate our journey to a greener, more resilient energy landscape.”
Cooperative enterprises
These agreements follow previous, similar arrangements, including the company’s decision to sign a 15-year Corporate PPA with renewables developer Voltalia for full production from the 34MW Eastgate solar farm.
This latest deal, announced in November 2023, will see the Eastgate solar farm power the consumer co-operative’s estate, which includes food stores, distribution centers and funeral homes across the UK.
Initial construction of the 62,500 solar panel farm near Scarborough in North Yorkshire has already started and it is expected to be operational in 2025.
Once fully operational, the maximum capacity of the solar farm is expected to provide sufficient electricity to supply up to 7.5% of Co-op’s total electricity needs per year.
Just a month earlier, in October 2023, it was announced that the co-op Ripple Energy will own and operate 20% of an Eden Renewables solar project.
Clean energy developer Eden Renewables has submitted a planning application to Wiltshire Council for a 40MW alternating current solar farm east of Kington St. Michael, Wiltshire.
The site, now called the Red Barn solar farm, is the first renewable site in Wiltshire to operate under this type of agreement.
As with Ripple Energy’s other co-ownership projects, local residents of the site will be given preference to purchase shares in the co-op for a minimum of £25, making them eligible for an estimated 25% saving on their electricity bills (in proportion to their shareholdings).
