Two major new corporate renewable energy deals have been inked this week, with BT signing a £185m contract with a Scottish wind farm and building materials specialist Wienerberger agreeing to purchase power from DONG Energy’s offshore wind farms.
BT announced it has agreed a 15-year, £185m Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Stroupster wind farm in Northern Scotland, which will now provide the telco 100GWh of clean power a year.
The deal is the fourth PPA BT has signed with wind farms across the UK in support of its commitment to source 100 per cent renewable power.
“BT is a green energy pioneer and we have been purchasing 100 per cent renewable energy in the UK since 2012,” said Rob Williams, BT’s general manager of power procurement. “By 2020 we aim to be purchasing 100 per cent renewable electricity worldwide, so soon all of our power will come from sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat wherever we operate across the globe – where markets allow.
“We hope our commitment to renewable energy will encourage more consumers and businesses to make the move towards renewable energy.”
BT’s commitment makes it one of the world’s largest consumers of renewable power with the company’s power demand of 2.5TWh accounting for around one per cent of all UK power.
Jenny Hogan, Scottish Renewables director of policy, said the latest PPA was part of an encouraging trend amongst Blue Chip customers. “The fact that we’re seeing more and more large companies like BT contracting most or all of their power from sources like wind, solar, hydro and biomass shows that renewable energy makes good business sense,” she said. “It’s great to see firms like BT grasp this opportunity to cut carbon and stabilise their energy costs.”
The news comes in the same week as DONG Energy’s plans to sell power from its fleet of offshore wind farms direct to corporate customers received a boost, with the news Wienerberger is to source renewable power from the Danish energy giant for all its UK sites.
Wienerberger said the move would help it reduce the environmental impact of its operations and benefit those building industry customers who are keen to use building materials that boast low levels of ’embodied carbon’.
Jeff Whittingham, managing director at DONG Energy Sales UK, said the deal highlighted the appeal of the company’s offer to business customers.
“DONG Energy is driving the transition to low-carbon energy systems in the UK, and we believe that businesses should have access to renewable electricity supply without incurring additional cost,” he said. “Naturally we are delighted that Wienerberger shares our ambition of creating this greener energy future. It’s exciting that one of the UK’s largest building material producers places such a strong emphasis on sustainability.”
Source: businessgreen.com
