14 DAY TRIAL // Greenvale AP, a major potato supplier in the United Kingdom, has recently announced plans to cut electricity costs and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by embracing renewables. Specifically, it appears that the potato supplier has decided to become involved in harvesting wind power.
Information shared with the public says that Greenvale AP will soon be the proud owner of a brand-new wind turbine. According to Business Green, the turbine is to be installed at the company's Floods Ferry site in Cambridgeshire.
Should things go according to plan, work on this green-oriented project will begin sometime towards the end of this year's April and be completed by the end of 2014, the same source informs.
The funding needed to roll out and implement this green energy scheme was provided by Triodos Renewables and Santander. Triodas Renewables has until now invested in 12 other clean energy projects and plans to support several others by 2015.
Thus, the company, which is managed by Triodos Bank, presently boasts a clean energy portfolio whose capacity amounts to 60 megawatts. It is expected that, by 2015, this portfolio will expand to 100 megawatts of green power generating capacity.
Matthew Clayton, the managing director of Triodos Renewables, thinks that this latest partnership with Greenvale AP represents “a great start to 2014 for our shareholders, building on a record-breaking 2013 for both Triodos Renewables and UK renewables industry.”
When up and running, the wind turbine will stand about 100 meters (328 feet) tall, and its energy generating capacity will be one of 1.5 megawatts. It is estimated that the turbine's output will suffice to meet about 60% of the overall power demand of the United Kingdom's largest fresh potato packaging plant.
Talking to the press, Trevor Dear, who works as an operations director at Greenvale AP, explained that the installation of this wind turbine would not only help the company improve on its ecological footprint, but would also benefit local economy.
“The wind turbine will secure a reliable energy supply for our packing site, generate jobs within the region, and reduce our impact on the environment,” Trevor Dear reportedly said in a statement. “This is a key part of our environmental policy, which aims to reduce our CO2 [carbon dioxide] output by 20 per cent by 2015,” the Greenvale AP operations director went on to explain.
Given the fact that, in a report published this past March 31, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that climate change and global warming were already happening and would only get worse in the years to come, it comes as good news that efforts are being made to promote the use of renewables.