BT signs £440 million deal for wind power

BT has inked a £440 million deal to buy electricity from three wind farms in Scotland, Wales and Lancashire. The British telecoms business signed the power purchase agreements for more […]

BT has inked a £440 million deal to buy electricity from three wind farms in Scotland, Wales and Lancashire.

The British telecoms business signed the power purchase agreements for more than 100 megawatts (MW) of power.

BT will purchase half of the output from a 48-turbine Fallago Rig farm in Scotland, enough to match the power use of its entire Scottish operations, in a deal worth around £300 million over the next two decades.

The rest of the cash will support the building of the other two deals.

A 15-year, £100 million agreement with Mynydd Bwllfa will provide enough electricity to match around 50% of BT’s demand in Wales.

Another 15-year deal with the new Heysham South Wind Farm in Lancashire is worth around £40 million.

BT uses a huge amount of electricity in the UK, around 2 terawatt hours (TWh) last year.

Rob Williams, BT’s Head of Energy Supply said: “These large-scale, long term agreements are a vote of confidence in UK renewable energy…

“They not only give us long term price certainty but enable us to support local economies in which we operate, with the ‘New to the Planet’ agreements in Wales and Lancashire underpinning the construction of these two new wind farms.”

The company said it has reduced its energy needs for five consecutive years, saving more than £131 million in energy costs.

Mr Williams added: “We’ve reduced carbon emissions from our own operations by 25.5% globally during 2013/14.”

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