Harnessing Solar Panels across our Sites - Big Solar Co-op Partnership
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Published 11 Apr 2024 in Raising Awareness
Today we’re announcing the next stage in our work to build a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future – a major partnership with the Big Solar Co-op that will see Your Co-op utilise our store footprint to generate renewable electricity.
A new partnership that will see the installation of solar panels across 29 Food, Travel, Childcare and Head Office sites, providing sufficient renewable electricity to provide around 5% of the business electricity needs. The generation of renewable electricity will also prevent 290 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere each year, supporting our aims to cut direct GHG emissions by 40% by January 2026.
That’s not all, the partnership with Big Solar Co-op will reduce energy costs for us, cutting electricity bills by circa £180,000 per year by generating over 1.5 million kilowatts of electricity per year!
An idea from one of our colleagues – Sam Webb!
Did you know the idea for the partnership originally came from one of our colleagues?
Part of an initiative to identify opportunities to join forces with other UK co-operatives to create a more circular future, Sam Webb, Circular Economy Manager, proposed working with the Big Solar Co-op to support our efforts to generate more green energy.
Where last year, Sam travelled to the Global Innovation Co-op Summit in Montreal to represent Midcounties and speak about his idea. A fantastic example of co-operation from Sam!
Sam Webb, Circular Economy Manager, whose idea from the Global Innovation Co-op Summit competition was brought to life
The Power of co-operation in action
The partnership with Big Solar Co-op demonstrates the power of co-operation in driving positive change – and showcases principle 6 – co-operation among co-operatives in action. Mike Pickering, Head of Sustainability added “By integrating solar power generation into our operations, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint, but we are also furthering our commitment to building a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future. Together, we look forward to this collaboration and the impact it will have on our communities and the planet.”
Noel Lambert, Community & Content Lead for Big Solar Co-op also added, "We can't wait to get solar on roofs for Midcounties', combatting climate change with clean, community energy and putting our Big Solar co-operative values into practice with this partnership feels especially powerful and fitting."
As announced last week, the partnership complements our work to increase energy efficiency across the Society, which has seen us reduce energy usage by 11% in the past year and prevent more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere. All thanks to our colleagues, members and customers!
Looking ahead, we remain committed to making further progress by prioritising energy efficiencies and investments in renewable energy sources. A further £800,000 will be invested in energy efficiency projects over the next 12 months as innovations are implemented across more stores.