EDF secures a slice of UK supermarket Tesco’s corporate solar plan
Oct 29, 2019 09:32 AM ET
- The French energy giant will provide supermarket Tesco with electricity from 17 rooftop PV installations and two wind farms for a renewables portfolio generation capacity of 59 MW. The groceries retailer has announced plans to install 187 solar rooftops.
French utility EDF says its U.K. unit, EDF Renewables, has secured three renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) from British supermarket Tesco after the retailer announced plans to lease roofspace for solar installations across 187 of its British stores.
The EDF deals relate to 59 MW of renewable energy generation capacity the company will deploy for the retailer – 17 rooftop PV installations in England and two onshore wind farms in Scotland. The PPA for the solar projects is related to 5 MW of rooftop generation capacity and will hold for 20 years.
EDF Renewables will install 15,000 PV modules on the roofs of 17 Tesco stores in England. With construction already under way, all the PV systems should be operational next year. The projects are part of EDF Group’s CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its renewables capacity worldwide to 50 GW.
New wind capacity
Two other PPAs have been signed for wind projects in Scotland with a total generation capacity of 54 MW, for 15 years. The Burnfoot East wind farm, in the heart of Scotland, will be expanded by 10.8 MW and another 43 MW of capacity will be built, although no further details were given.
Jason Tarry, chief executive of Tesco U.K. and Republic of Ireland, said: “These contracts represent a major step in our move to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030.”
Australian investor Macquarie’s Green Investment Group today announced it had secured a 7.5 MWp slice of the action under the Tesco rooftop plan and the retailer’s Thai joint vehicle, Tesco Lotus, a week ago announced similar plans to install enough new rooftop PV to generate more than 21.5 GWh this year.
The Thai roofspace, which will enable Tesco Lotus to generate 36.5 GWh of solar energy once complete, will be installed by Singapore-based developer Cleantech Solar.
Tesco announced its renewables plans today as part of a bid to source 65% of its electricity from clean energy generation by next year, all of its power by 2030 and for the Tesco Group to become a zero carbon business by 2050.
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