Diageo, one of the world’s largest producers of spirits and beers, has chosen E.ON to install a solar energy farm at one of its sites in Scotland.
Occupying an area the size of eight football pitches, 9,000 solar panels will be installed on vacant land within Diageo’s packaging site in Leven, Fife, from July after receiving planning approval.
The solar array is expected to be one of the largest of its type in Scotland, producing 4.1MW of electricity – up to 22% of the site’s annual needs and up to 60% over summer months – which is enough to power 2,500 homes for a year and which will reduce carbon emissions from the site by about 830 tonnes a year.
The solar farm will be installed on the vacant land in the south-east corner of Diageo’s 150-acre plant and is being delivered with E.ON and Scottish-based Emtec Energy. The project is wholly contained within the existing footprint of the site and is scheduled to be complete and generating power by early 2023.
Diageo’s Leven bottling and packaging site produces 40 million cases of premium spirit every year and, under Diageo’s Society 2030 commitment, is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2026.
Gavin Brogan, Operations Director at Diageo Leven, said: “It’s fantastic to make this project a reality, creating a more resilient and energy-efficient plant. Working in partnership with E.ON and Emtec Energy, the solar array will generate nearly a quarter of our annual energy use and is a fantastic step forward towards meeting our net zero commitments.
“Diageo is well-rooted in Leven and we are committed to playing a positive role in our local community, so we will continue to invest in projects like this one to improve our impact on the environment and future-proof our operations. We have a number of those projects in the pipeline, including looking into sustainable heating solutions which the solar farm development will help to power.”
Stuart Beasley, Director of Sales, B2B Solutions Sales at E.ON, said: “Now, more than ever, people are choosing to work with or buy from greener businesses and at E.ON we’ve decades of experience in delivering affordable and sustainable solutions that help businesses with their lower carbon ambitions. With our partners Emtec we are ideally placed to help Diageo in their ambitions to create a more sustainable business, as well as showing employees and customers the tangible changes they are making in the face of the climate emergency and meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero targets.”
Plans for the development of the site as a solar array were submitted to Fife Council in July 2021.
