Co-op has signed a new seven-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with RWE to source electricity from the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, marking another step in the retailer’s drive to decarbonise its operations.
The site is in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales and the deal will see RWE supply the consumer co-operative with 33 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy annually – enough to power the equivalent of 140 Co-op food stores, or around 12,200 homes. The renewable electricity will help meet the energy demands of Co-op’s food stores, distribution centres and funeralcare sites across the UK.
Heather Thomas, Group Property & Sustainability Director at Co-op, said the agreement underscores the retailer’s commitment to both climate action and national energy security.
“For the sake of people and planet, it’s vital that collectively we tackle the climate crisis,” she said.
“The energy transition is central to energy security and therefore national security too. That’s why we believe every business should be playing its part to help green the grid.”
RWE, which operates Gwynt y Môr as Wales’s largest offshore wind farm, welcomed the agreement. Olaf Lubenow, head of commodity solutions UK, North & South Europe at RWE Supply & Trading, added: “This contract will help Co-op to meet an increasing proportion of its energy needs from renewable sources. We are seeing continued growth in interest in sustainable energy solutions in the UK retail sector.”
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The partnership builds on Co-op’s wider renewable energy strategy, which includes a landmark solar panel installation at its largest depot in Biggleswade, a programme to roll out solar panels across up to 700 sites in the next three years and the launch of a new Cambridgeshire solar farm, enabled by a PPA signed in 2024.
Earlier this year, Co-op also re-entered the commercial energy market with its Co-op Power proposition, which leverages its expertise as a major energy user to help businesses procure sustainable energy.
Imran Rasul, chief procurement officer at Co-op, said: “We’re leveraging Co-op’s expertise as a major energy user in our own right to aid businesses with their own energy procurement strategies. We are committed to helping organisations save money and source energy in a sustainable and ethical way.”
The announcement comes as Co-op progresses towards its target of achieving net zero across its operations by 2035 and across its entire business by 2040. In March 2024, it became one of the first UK convenience retailers to have its targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Image credit: Kevin Berry, RWE UK
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