The Co-op Group has announced a seven-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to use energy generated from a wind farm located off the coast of North Wales.
The Group says the deal with electricity producer RWE – which comes as CEO Shrine Khoury-Haq hit out at Conservative Party proposals to scrap the Climate Change Act – will increase the amount of renewable energy it sources to support national energy security and accelerate its own path towards decarbonisation.
Through the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, RWE will supply the Group with a total volume of 33 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity annually – which is enough to power the equivalent of around 140 of the Group’s food stores a year, equal to 12,200 homes.
Heather Thomas, the Group’s property and sustainability director, said: “We continue to strengthen our energy purchasing strategy by making impactful changes across our business.
“For the sake of people and planet, it’s vital that collectively we tackle the climate crisis. The energy transition is central to energy security and therefore national security too.
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“That’s why we believe that every business should be playing its part to help green the grid, be that by reducing their energy demand or indeed by ensuring that renewable electricity generation forms an integral part of their energy procurement decisions.”
Olaf Lubenow, head of commodity solutions UK, North & South Europe at RWE Supply & Trading, added: “This contract will help Co-op to meet an increasing proportion of its energy needs from renewable sources. We are seeing continued growth in interest in sustainable energy solutions in the UK retail sector.”
The Gwynt y Môr wind farm is located in the Irish Sea, off the coast of North Wales. Operated by RWE, it is Wales’s largest offshore wind farm and comprises 160 turbines with a capacity of 576 mW.
The news came as the Conservative Party pledged to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008 in favour of a strategy for “cheap and reliable” energy.
The Climate Change Act 2008, which sets targets for cutting emissions into law, was introduced under Tony Blair and strengthened under Theresa May’s Conservative government..
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she wanted “a cleaner environment” but argued “Labour’s laws tied us in red tape, loaded us with costs, and did nothing to cut global emissions”.
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The move has drawn criticism from green campaigners, Labour and, from the Tory Party, Theresa May – while the Group’s Khoury-Haq said: “Abandoning the Climate Change Act would damage economic growth and be nothing short of a betrayal – not just of global communities, including many which supply food to the UK and are already suffering the impact of the climate crisis, but also future generations denied the cleaner, greener and more prosperous future that we must work towards together.
“The UK is a world leader in climate targets, and we are the first major economy to halve emissions. We are leaders in the science and technology behind this success, which has been made possible because of long-term private sector investment unlocked by the certainty provided by a strong legal framework. This is an enabler of economic growth for our nation.
“At Co-op our Climate Justice campaign for a faster and fairer transition to Net Zero is grounded in three principles – we’re led by the science, we’re working towards a fair and just transition for people and planet, and we’re co-operating across all parties, business and communities to drive systems change.”
The Group says it has been campaigning for climate justice since 2021 and recently published research with Green Alliance on the role of businesses as energy consumers in the energy transition.
This news of its latest PPA follows on from:
- the completion of a landmark solar panel project at Co-op’s largest depot in Biggleswade
- the roll out of plans to install solar panels on up to 700 sites across its food, funeralcare and logistic portfolio over the next three years
- the launch of a new solar farm in Cambridgeshire – made possible by the Group’s signing of a PPA in 2024
- an agreement in 2023 to take the entire output of a new 34-megawatt solar farm, located in North Yorkshire, which is set to be fully operational next year.
Earlier this year, the Group re-entered the commercial energy market with its Co-op Power proposition, which support businesses with their clean energy buying requirements.
Chief procurement officer Imran Rasul said: “We’re leveraging Co-op’s expertise as a major energy user in our own right to aid businesses with their own energy procurement strategies to find better ways of sourcing, buying and managing energy. We have a wealth of knowledge in this sector and are committed to sharing our insights to help businesses save money and source energy in a sustainable and ethical way.”
The Group has committed to reaching net zero across its operations by 2035 and entire business by 2040.
