RWE npower (npower) has won a contract from Marks & Spencer (M&S) for supply of 2.6 TWh of renewable electricity from April 2009 for six years. The electricity provided will be enough to power M&S entire UK stores and offices. The power to be sourced by npower will consist of wind and hydro power. The contract also allows for a significant amount of the supply to be purchased directly from independent small-scale generators of renewable energy sources.
The contract is a step towards M&S Plan A goal to become carbon neutral through reducing energy usage, sourcing renewable power and using offsetting only as a last resort.
From a 2006-07 baseline, M&S has already reduced its electricity consumption by over 6% and sourced over 30% of its electricity from renewables, including five distributed generation sites featuring wind turbines, anaerobic digestion plants and small hydro schemes.
Richard Gillies, Director of Plan A at M&S said: “Securing this contract with npower is a major achievement for M&S. Not only does it significantly move us towards our goal of using 100% renewable electricity across our stores and offices, it also strengthens our market-leading commitment to encouraging small third-party generators, including some of our own suppliers, to develop renewable electricity. This is a viable secondary business opportunity for many farmers – who can be confident that M&S will purchase, via npower, any renewable electricity they generate.”
npower Retail Chief Executive Officer Kevin Miles said: “Marks & Spencer’s objectives to lower emissions mirror our own: npower has already announced investments of over GBP2.0 billion on greener power stations to reduce its ‘carbon intensity’ by around 33% by 2015 and we’re committed to helping our customers reduce their own energy consumption and CO2.
“This exciting, landmark deal is one that we trust the high street will follow. We have worked closely with M&S to understand their business and the challenges they’re facing to get the right contract in place to meet their needs. The public is now aware of the impact of business operations on the environment and this deal is a clear sign of M&S’s desire to meet the demands of its customers. We’re delighted to have been able to do the same.”
Grant Mackie, one of the first farmers to benefit from M&S drive to develop renewable power sourced from small third party generators, said: “I am very pleased that M&S have structured their supply agreement with npower in a way that allows renewable distributed generation to be purchased direct from farmers. Over many years, M&S have developed a close working relationship with their farming supply base. This is now being extended to those farmers investing in renewable energy developments, including wind turbines and anaerobic digestion. Farmers are continually being advised to diversify, yet there are several barriers to investing in renewables and it can be a costly process. The encouragement from M&S is really welcome.”