“Once more unto the Breach”: Iceland plugs into Octopus’s Cambs solar farm

Frozen food chain Iceland Foods is the latest High Street brand to sign a PPA (- power purchase agreement -) with a power retailer for clean electricity sourced from a dedicated, soon-to-be completed solar farm.

Under the parties’ ten-year deal, Octopus Energy’s PV farm at Breach, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, will provide around 64 GWh every year, equivalent to 14% of Iceland’s electricity needs for its total UK estate of 1,000 stores.

On the parties’ calculations, the 67 MWp Breach facility thus eliminates 23,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution, amounting to the planting of 110,000 trees every year.

Octopus Energy Generation acquired the site in June 2022 on behalf of ORIT, the privately held group’s investment trust. Construction began in November 2022, and the farm is scheduled to generate this autumn.

Last month Vodafone signed a deal with British Gas’ parent Centrica and developer Mytilineos to guarantee supply of 216 GWh per year from five solar parks, earmarked for consented sites stretching from Dorset to Nottinghamshire.

Of the Iceland deal, a happy Zoisa North-Bond, boss of Octopus Energy Generation declared: “It’s great to see a massive British firm like Iceland Foods accelerate its renewable energy journey, freezing its foods with the power of the sun.

“Iceland has been a trailblazer in sustainability – and the more companies that follow their lead, the quicker we can reduce our economy’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels and shift to a future powered by clean energy.”

Iceland’s CEO Tarsem Dhaliwal welcomed the reliability of the ten year deal, secured, as he noted, “at a significant discount to the current wholesale price”.

“This partnership is an exciting step in our journey towards achieving net zero by 2040″, said Iceland’s top geezer.

“It gives us some clarity on our energy costs for the coming years”, This helps to mitigate the impact of the volatility that has plagued the industry for the past 12 months”.

Iceland’s founder Richard Walker has declared his intention of seeking to become a Conservative MP at the next General Election.

As one of Europe’s biggest renewables investors, Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team oversees clean generation assets valued at nearly £6 billion. Among its prominent PPA deals is last January’s agreement to despatch 160GWh of onshore wind power every year from Cumberhead in Lanark to Kimberly Clark’s manufacturing and distribution facilities across the UK.