Biggleswade Solar

Co-op has been campaigning for Climate Justice since 2021, and recently published research with Green Alliance on the role of businesses as energy consumers in the energy transition which is essential not only in tackling climate change but also for energy security and therefore national security.

The news of the solar power project at the depot follows on from the announcement of our Co-op’s plans to install solar panels on a target of up to 700 sites across our food, funeralcare and logistic portfolio over the next three years.

Furthermore, Co-op has supported the launch of a solar farm in Cambridgeshire – made possible by Co-op’s signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) – and secured an additional agreement to take the entire output of a 34-megawatt solar farm, located in North Yorkshire, which is set to be fully operational next year.

In March 2024, Co-op became the first UK convenience retailer to have its net zero targets validated by the globally-recognised Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In its updated Climate Action Plan, Co-op further committed to sourcing renewable energy via corporate PPAs and investing in supporting suppliers and producers to reduce absolute carbon emissions.

This ambitious project was three years in the making, and involved multiple stakeholders across our Co-op, including our Energy Efficiency, Sustainability and Property teams.

Co-op Power was responsible for the commercial evaluation and development of the asset going live. Projects like this take work, and we want to help our customers on their own embedded generation journey. We’ve highlighted our key thoughts and if you’re struggling to get your project off the ground, we can help.

You need to know your audience, understand their concerns and work to show you’ve mitigated their risks. As a member run organisation with a long history of fairness, co-operation, and sustainability, we engaged across all teams to ensure we delivered a product which met expectations.

A good understanding of the commercial development of the project is key. Not only that, but these concepts need to be effectively communicated to stakeholders. With twenty years’ experience in the procurement of cPPA’s and dedicated PPA Management in house, we are well placed to support. We can help you with your business plan to highlight the commercial opportunities embedded generation projects can bring.

What are the key commercial principals, and how do the bids line up with what the business needs? We are part of Co-op Group’s Procurement team, so you can rest assured that we do our due diligence when it comes to sourcing and managing contracts. We are proud to partner with Basepower to deliver our ambition.

Contract negotiation is essential. Embedded generation projects, much like cPPAs are about building a partnership between the developer and the off taker. Our industry expertise and history in managing these complex contacts means we can support you in negotiating your terms. Generators need to know how ongoing payments will be managed. We facilitate payments for all the generation assets we manage for Group and can advise on the best way to manage the payment process.

The asset will produce REGO certificates, and you need to consider how you will deal with these. At Co-op Power, we’re able to manage the process of retiring REGOs on behalf of the Group and our customers.

If you’re planning your own embedded generation project, large or small, and you would like to learn how we can support, get in touch power@coop.co.uk.