Tesco and ScottishPower open 30MW onshore wind farm in Scottish Highlands

A 30MW onshore wind farm has come online in the Scottish Highlands thanks to a deal between Tesco and ScottishPower Renewables, which will see the supermarket giant directly purchase electricity from the facility in order to help power its UK operations.

The 15-turbine Halsary windfarm in Caithness is now generating enough clean energy to meet the equivalent needs of almost 20,000 average UK homes, and will help to power Tesco's stores and operations across the country, the supermarket giant announced yesterday.

The project was developed under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Tesco and ScottishPower Renewables, making it the first wind farm built by the energy firm without government subsidies.

Tesco CEO for the UK and Republic of Ireland, Jason Tarry, said the PPA formed part of the retailer's target to power all of its UK stores directly from renewable energy and become a net zero company by 2035. Tesco last year reached its target to switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity in its own operations ten years ahead of its 2030 goal, and in 2019 it announced it aim to directly source renewable power from wind and solar farms.

"This is a critical year for climate action and these long-term renewable energy agreements are crucial to securing Tesco's future energy needs and meeting our net zero commitments," he said. "These partnerships will also help create more affordable access to renewable energy and support the UK in realising its climate change targets. Real change requires that businesses now start moving from making commitments to driving transformative action. Now is the time to accelerate our efforts to tackle the biggest challenge of our lifetime."

The PPA deal is among the largest of its kind in the UK, covering five wind farms in Scotland powered by ScottishPower and EDF as well as four solar farms, according to Tesco. Once all projects are completed, they are expected to generate around 600GWh of renewable electricity each year, the equivalent to powering 80,000 homes, as well as helping create over 560 jobs and provide up to 20 per cent of Tesco's electricity needs.

Lindsay McQuade, CEO ScottishPower Renewables said: "With just a few months until the COP26 UN climate change summit in Glasgow, milestones like this really matter and show we can all do our bit for a cleaner and greener future. There's a growing market across the UK for partnerships like this, which deliver new green assets and bring clean energy to the market, and these will be crucial in delivering the changes needed at the necessary pace and scale to tackle the climate emergency and reach net zero."

The government's Minister for Business, Trade, and Enterprise Ivan McKee also welcomed the completion of the Halsary wind farm. 

"The decarbonisation of the electricity sector has been a major success of Scotland's energy policy over the past decade and I am pleased to see this significant partnership between Tesco and Scottish Power going live," he said. "Our just transition to net zero presents many economic opportunities for our business community to embrace green innovation and investment, supporting our climate goals and benefitting our economy, environment and society."