The three biggest food co-operatives in the UK – the Co-op Group, Central Co-op and Midcounties Co-operative – have joined with Tesco, Morrisons, M&S and Community Energy England to call on the government to “green the energy grid” by powering investment in renewable energy.
The leaders of six major retailers and 300 community energy businesses, represented by Community Energy England, have signed a letter urging prime minister Rishi Sunak to prioritise incentives to encourage investment in renewable energy. They are also pressing for an overhaul of the planning regime to fast-track new wind and solar schemes and create fairer pricing for green energy for households and industry.
Independent research by Cornwall Insight, commissioned by The Co-op, has revealed that only 18.5% of planned renewable generation is assessed as highly likely to develop as planned. Findings also show that grid decarbonisation isn’t going fast enough, with data predicting that less than 60% of the UK’s energy will be from renewable generation by 2030. At present, around 40% of the UK’s generation is from renewable sources of power.
The government has committed to decarbonising electricity generation by 2035 to support the wider net zero goal. To achieve this, the Climate Change Committee has suggested that renewables will need to make up over 70% of generation.
The letter states the need for the government to work with businesses to unlock additional renewable energy generation capacity, including directly funding wind or solar energy farms – which Co-op has committed to.
Shirine Khoury-Haq, chief executive, Co-op, said: “The energy market is at a crisis point and we need urgent Government action to deliver energy security, drive economic growth and move us closer to net zero. The UK is still too reliant on fossil fuels and we need to create more UK renewable energy to green the energy grid.
“The Co-op is directly sourcing energy from a solar farm and will have even more of its energy coming from such sources in the future as part of a multi-million pound programme to increase the proportion of directly funded renewable energy we use.
“Grid decarbonisation isn’t going fast enough and the Government needs to incentivise investment in it and push through planning reforms to allow rapid progress for onshore and offshore developments.”
Phil Ponsonby, group chief executive, Midcounties Co-operative, said: “Midcounties Co-operative have been long-standing advocates of greening the grid and have worked with, and alongside, our members over many years to encourage and facilitate locally owned community owned energy in particular. We already have agreements in place with over 200 community energy providers, supplying enough energy for 60,000 homes through our Co-op Community Power tariff, and join this campaign on behalf of our members to call for changes to further support renewable energy in the UK.”
Debbie Robinson, chief executive, Central Co-op, said: “At Central Co-op our purpose is to create a sustainable Society for all. We’ve reduced our carbon emissions by 80% since 2011, been zero to landfill since 2012 and been awarded the Carbon Trust Triple standard four times in a row. We are committed to generating green energy across our family of businesses installing photo voltaic in 50 of our stores. It’s our long term vision to generate energy to be self-sufficient and potentially deliver a surplus for our communities. We’re supporting this campaign to call upon Government for a framework to support investment which will enable more support for renewable energy in our communities.”
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