Company installs solar array in Aylesford as part of ambitious renewable energy plan
Brakes has installed a solar array at its Aylesford depot as it steps up its plan to harness natural energy across its estate.
The Aylesford project is part of a phased programme of projects that will see the foodservice giant generate renewable energy at sites across Great Britain, and follows a similar installation at its Harlow depot last year.
The new, 2,400 solar panel system will provide almost a quarter of the site’s energy requirement and will save the equivalent of around 200 tonnes of carbon every year, according to the company.
It is the latest step towards the science-based targets set out by Sysco, Brakes’ parent company, to cut carbon emissions by 27.5 per cent between 2019 and 2030, and to move to 100 per cent renewable electricity.
It also plans to ensure that suppliers covering 67 per cent of Sysco’s Scope 3 emissions establish science-based targets by 2026.
Peter Owen, Sysco GB engineering and environment director, said: “We are helping to meet Sysco’s challenging global carbon-reduction goals by tackling the energy consumption in our own transport and infrastructure here in Britain. We’ve seen this work well in Harlow with our first 1MW solar array.
”Now, our ambition is to roll this out and install solar wherever possible across our estate – generating our own source of renewable, clean energy. This is key to our decarbonisation strategy.”
