Nestle leads the way in renewable energy in the UK

Child mortality rates were high and one of the main factors was that there wasn’t enough fresh milk around to feed them. A man who had no children himself dedicated the early part of his career to saving other people’s. Henri Nestlé, a qualified pharmacist, combined cow’s milk with grain and sugar and produced a powdered substitute for breast milk.

152 years later and the company which took his name operates under the ‘Good food, good life’ motto. Its latest venture this month saw Nestlé opening a wind farm at Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland.

Made up of nine turbines producing around 125 GWh of power/yr, it’s enough to meet half of the annual electricity demands of all Nestlé’s UK and Ireland operations. It will also send enough electricity to keep the lights on in 30,000 homes directly to the national network every year.

Nestlé UK and Ireland CEO Stefano Agostini said: “I’m proud that Nestlé is doing the right thing and directly contributing to the reduction of carbon here in the UK and Ireland. We all have a part to play in reducing climate change and its effects while making sure that we safeguard our planet’s future.

“We already use 100% renewable, grid supplied electricity across all our UK and Ireland operations, but now with the opening of Sanquhar wind farm, we can supply half of our own energy here in the UK and Ireland. I’m delighted we are not only using 100% renewable electricity to run our business here in the UK and Ireland, we are now responsible for producing it too.”

The initial 15 year Power Partnership Agreement with Community Wind Power is the latest step in its commitment to transitioning its electricity use to 100% renewable – across the globe – as required by its membership of RE100. This is a global initiative to engage, support and showcase influential companies committed to using 100% renewable power. Members include Microsoft, Apple, HSBC and Tetra Pak. Emily Farnworth, Campaign Director, said this was an important step for the business industry: “Nestlé recognises that climate change impacts pose a risk to the business, and sees renewable energy as part of the solution. Today’s announcement takes the company a step closer to its goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity across its global operations, and reinforces the strong market signal – sent through RE100 – that business demand for renewables is rising.”

It’s another good news story for the Scottish renewable industry too. Around a quarter of Europe’s offshore wind resources are held here. It’s estimated almost 60,000 jobs have been created by the low carbon and renewable energy economy. The government says that renewables are the single biggest contributor to electricity production in the country.