In a bid to help the environment and reduce the carbon intensity of its operations, Barclays has confirmed its biggest ever purchase of renewable energy and, as a result, will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 125,000 tonnes per year.

As of April 2007, 50% of Barclays UK electricity consumption will be generated from renewable sources, compared to a previous 3%. Barclays’ UK offices will all be powered by renewable energy.

Under the terms of the contract, Barclays will purchase about 300GWh of renewable energy per annum from EDF Energy for the next three years.

This three-year contract with EDF Energy is an important milestone which will help us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, commented Andrew Flett, head of environmental management at Barclays. However, the greenest form of energy is the energy you don’t use and working to reduce our overall energy consumption remains our priority.

Barclays’ commitment to go green, as part of its Barclays Climate Action Program, will see the banking group pay an additional GBP2.50 to GBP3.50 for every 1MWh of non-renewable energy used, to offset the carbon dioxide emitted.