6.1MW solar array to power M&S; Castle Donington warehouse
Green business news – by Louise Bateman
23rd October 2014
One of the UK’s largest solar rooftop installations is being built at a giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) distribution centre in the East Midlands, it was announced today.
Infrastructure investment specialist Amber Infrastructure is funding and supplying the 900,000 square rooftop solar project at the M&S distribution warehouse in Castle Donington. Once completed in 2015, the 6.1 megawatt (MW) solar PV array will be capable of generating 5,000 MWh of electricity a year, enough to make the M&S distribution centre self-sufficient during daylight hours, the retailer said.
Largest solar rooftop
“This further enhances the sustainability credentials of our BREEAM Excellent Castle Donington site,” Hugo Adams, director of Property at M&S, said. “Coupled with one of Europe’s largest solar thermal walls, the new solar PV system will make the building one of the most sustainable distribution centres in the world.”
More planned for 2015
Largest solar rooftop
The scale of the array makes it larger than Jaguar Land Rover’s 5.8 MW solar rooftop at its engine manufacturing plant in Staffordshire and currently believed to be the largest commercial rooftop installation in the UK. However, the car manufacturer is due to extend its rooftop solar system by the end of the year to 6.3 MW.
“This further enhances the sustainability credentials of our BREEAM Excellent Castle Donington site,” Hugo Adams, director of Property at M&S, said. “Coupled with one of Europe’s largest solar thermal walls, the new solar PV system will make the building one of the most sustainable distribution centres in the world.”
More planned for 2015
M&S said the solar PV installation was part of its commitment to ensure 50 per cent of the electricity used in its building operations comes from small scale renewable sources by 2020. It is one of a number solar PV roof projects the retailer is planning over the next 12 months.
Under the deal, the Mark Group will install the 24,272 PV panels and M&S will purchase all of the electricity generated from the system under a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement with Amber.
“The project is aligned with Amber’s pioneering approach to the provision of renewable generation and energy efficiency solutions and will create a template for the delivery of similar schemes across the UK, supporting the stated objectives of DECC and wider UK Government,” Tom O’Shaughnessy, partner at Amber Infrastructure, said.
This time last year, former Energy Minister Greg Barker, said he wanted 5MW commercial solar rooftop installations to be the “norm not the exception”.
5 GW milestone
“The project is aligned with Amber’s pioneering approach to the provision of renewable generation and energy efficiency solutions and will create a template for the delivery of similar schemes across the UK, supporting the stated objectives of DECC and wider UK Government,” Tom O’Shaughnessy, partner at Amber Infrastructure, said.
This time last year, former Energy Minister Greg Barker, said he wanted 5MW commercial solar rooftop installations to be the “norm not the exception”.
5 GW milestone
In August, the UK solar PV industry reached 5 GW of solar capacity, but the industry is concerned that the recent Government change of policy on large-scale ground mounted solar is acting as a break on the growth of solar in the UK.
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