Co-op, Tesco, Morrisons call on gov to 'green the energy grid'

UK's three biggest food co-operatives – the Co-op Group, Central Co-op and Midcounties Co-operative – alongside Tesco, Morrison, M&S and Community Energy England, have joined forces to call on the government to “green the energy grid” by powering investment in renewable energy as a research shows that grid decarbonisation "isn’t going fast enough".

The leaders of six major supermarkets 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 per cent 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 per cent of the UK’s energy will be from renewable generation by 2030.

At present, around 40 per cent 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 per cent of generation.

The letter states the need for 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.”