The company already uses 100% renewable, grid supplied electricity across its operations in the UK and Ireland, but the opening of a nine-turbine windfarm, in Dumfries and Galloway, will enable Nestlé to meet half its energy needs across the nation with its own power.
The project was developed as part of the corporation’s 25-year partnership with energy business Community Windpower and is set to generate around 125GWh of power annually. It is also set to deliver enough surplus electricity back to the grid to power 30,000 homes for a year.
“I’m proud that Nestlé is doing the right thing and directly contributing to the reduction of carbon here in the UK and Ireland,” Nestlé UK and Ireland’s chief executive, Stefano Agostini, said.
The wind farm project was funded by Nestlé, although the company would not disclose the costs. The project will see the corporation make annual contributions to a local community fund aimed at providing economic, educational, environmental and social benefits for the lifetime of the wind farm. Measures covered by the fund include habitat improvement to protect biodiversity in the farm grounds, and education schemes to inform local residents about renewable power.
A spokesperson for Nestlé told edie that the opening of the wind farm means that the firm is now generating power using solar arrays, wind farms, hydropower plants, anaerobic digestion technology and biomass plants within the UK and Ireland, adding that the firm could expand these facilities in the future.
The move from Nestlé comes at a time where a host of businesses within the consumer goods sector are implementing similar measures to decarbonise their power. Procter & Gamble (P&G), for example, recently pledged to purchase renewable energy to power 100% of its plants by 2030 and Mars Australia last month committed to generate the equivalent of 100% of its estate’s electricity use from renewable sources by 2020.