ENGIE, Infinis sign PPA with Arla to power its UK operations

ENGIE and Infinis have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Arla to supply renewable energy from two solar farms.

The two solar farms will be operational during 2024 and be located in Boston, Lincolnshire, and Offham, Kent. Together they will generate 23,000MWh of energy per year and be situated on land previously used as landfill.

Under the PPA, Arla, one of the UK’s largest dairy cooperatives, will be supplied with enough renewable energy to cover around 20% of its UK operations. This will support Arla’s climate ambition in switching to 100% renewable electricity across production sites by the end of 2025 ahead of its net zero by 2050 goal.

Fran Ball, vice president of production at Arla, said: “At Arla, we’re committed to working with our farmer owners to provide natural, nutritious dairy, that is made in the best possible way, and are proud to be committing to two new solar parks to help power our UK operations.

“We are on a journey to climate net zero by 2050, which means that we are taking steps to reduce CO2e emissions on our farms, as well as focussing on other areas, including our production and logistics operations.

“As part of our Climate Action Roadmap, we will be switching to 100% renewable electricity across production sites by the end of 2025, which will contribute 58% of the emissions reductions we need to make in production by 2030. Additionally, 100% recyclable packaging will be used across branded products by end of 2025 and will be helping our farmers to adapt more sustainable feed production practices.”

Infinis has been expanding its presence with a number of PPA agreements in the UK. Just last week (19 July), Solar Power Portal reported that the firm had agreed two seven-year PPA contracts with renewable energy company Statkraft covering two solar farms with a combined capacity of 92MW.

“We’re proud to be working with Engie and Arla to deliver clean renewable power and support their net zero commitment. Partnerships like this help to protect higher grade agricultural land from development – supporting both food security and energy security – and we hope will pave the way for many more such projects,” said James Milne, chief commercial officer at Infinis.