The installation should provide 30% of the brick maker's electricity through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Lightsource BP. The panels will be “hard-wired” into Ibstock Brick’s building, and provide power over a 25 year period at a fixed price.
Zosia Riesner, the head of corporate PPA at Lightsource BP, said their panels helped to provide “a reliable source of renewable energy whilst reducing their carbon footprint and electricity bills".
The brick factory will be the first in the UK to be part-powered by a solar farm. Ibstock Brick says it is committed to implementing resource-efficient methods, and claims it is one of the UK’s most sustainable brickworks.
The company’s continuous improvement and sustainability director, Mark Brind, said that Ibstock Brick recognised the “importance of being a sustainable business".
“This agreement with Lightsource BP forms part of our multi-dimensional approach in our drive to reach our sustainability targets.
“What made it particularly attractive was the biodiversity enhancement plan supporting the construction and the fact that the land could be used for both solar and agricultural use.”
Lightsource BP this week lauded a “UK first” when it provided National Grid ESO with reactive power overnight from a solar asset.
The company has now deployed over 2GW of solar projects globally, and is continuing to expand its portfolio. This includes a proposed 9.9MW solar farm in Swansea that it announced in July, which will build on plans for a 20MW project at the same site. Earlier that month, Lightsource BP also announced it had received planning permission for a 17MW solar farm from Rugby Borough Council.
