Nestlé UK will purchase 125GWh of power annually that will be sufficient to meet 50% of the electricity demand of the UK unit
Race Bank offshore wind farm is capable of generating up to 573MW of electricity from its 91 Siemens Gamesa 6MW wind turbines. (Credit: Ørsted A/S.)
Nestle UK has entered into a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Denmark-based power company Ørsted.
Under the terms of the corporate PPA, the UK subsidiary of the food and beverage company Nestle will purchase 31MW of power from the 573MW Race Bank offshore wind farm.
The 15-year agreement is said to be Ørsted’s largest fixed-price corporate PPA in the UK.
Nestlé UK and Ireland CEO Stefano Agostini said: “I’m incredibly proud that at Nestlé we are doing the right thing to play our part in reducing climate change.
“With our partnership with Ørsted we are now able to cover 100 % of our electricity from wind power, another huge milestone in our efforts to become a sustainable business.”
Commencing from 1 May 2020, Nestlé UK will purchase 125GWh of power annually that will be sufficient to meet 50% of the electricity demand of the company.
With this PPA along with some previously signed contracts, Nestle has all of its electricity consumption in the UK met with wind power.
For Ørsted, this agreement stabilises revenues for its Race Bank facility and, at the same time, lowers merchant power price exposure across the portfolio.
Ørsted Offshore senior vice president and responsible for corporate PPAs Rasmus Errboe said: “We’re very happy to enter into this long-term agreement with Nestlé and support them to achieve their sustainability ambitions.
“Today’s announcement with Nestlé UK demonstrates offshore wind’s attractiveness as a reliable, large-scale source of green power and underlines Ørsted’s ambition to continue to be a leader within corporate PPAs for offshore wind.”
Details of Race Bank wind farm
Located nearly 27km off the UK east coast and operated from Ørsted’s east coast hub in Grimsby, the Race Bank wind farm features 91 units of 6MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines.
Covering a total area of 75km2, the wind farm generates enough electricity to power half a million homes in the UK annually while offsetting about 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and 20,000 tonnes of SO2 emissions every year.
The wind farm, which was inaugurated in June 2018, is expected to have an average lifespan of 25 years.