Sainsbury’s aims to power all Scottish stores by renewable energy
Sainsbury’s has announced that it is set to generate enough wind energy to power all of its Scottish stores and depots using Scottish renewable energy by next year.
The supermarket said it already generates enough renewable electricity to power over half of its Scottish stores and is now on the brink of securing another site that will enable it to power all 47 of its stores, as well as its depots in Scotland.
By agreeing to buy all of the energy from a wind energy site before it is built, Sainsbury’s said it provides renewable energy companies with the guaranteed income they need to secure start-up funding. Known as a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), the energy is purchased in advance at an agreed cost providing guaranteed income for the renewable energy company, and protection from the volatility of the energy market for Sainsbury’s.
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s group commercial director, said: “We have a long history of investing in renewables, particularly in Scotland. Now, our investment is such that we will soon be able to say that we generate enough to offset all of the power used by our Scottish operations.”
Never Miss a Retail Update!Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead commented: “It’s great to see a company like Sainsbury’s making a public commitment to Scotland’s renewables revolution. The Scottish Government aims to generate 100 per cent of Scotland’s own electricity demand from a mix of renewable sources by 2020. By then we intend to be generating twice as much electricity as Scotland needs – just over half of it from renewables, and just under half from other conventional sources.”
Coupe added: “We believe this deal represents a great example of how being green can make good business sense and we are currently looking for other power generators with whom we could make similar arrangements.”
