Whitbread, the hospitality company behind UK brands such as Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, has achieved its aim of deriving 100% of its electricity demand from renewable sources.
As of 1 April 2017 all brands within Whitbread’s stable have been meeting their electricity demand from renewables.
The firm sources its clean electricity from Big Six supplier SSE, with the price paid by Whitbread reflecting the amount of renewables the supplier has to source to meet demand.
James Pitcher, director of sustainability at Whitbread, said that the company had a responsibility to drive change within the hospitality industry, something which had been a key driver behind its decision to go renewable.
“Whitbread is committed to minimising its environmental impact and operating [in] a way that respects people and the planet and we hope this will be a landmark step in helping to set the industry standard,” Pitcher added.
Last year Whitbread completed a significant solar installation programme which saw it deploy the technology across 88 of its Premier Inn locations across the UK, generating more than 1.3GWh of electricity and saving the company approximately £280,000 each year.
However Whitbread confirmed to Clean Energy News that its rooftop solar portfolio provided less than 1% of the firm’s total energy consumption.
Whitbread insisted that on-site generation continues to be a focal part of its energy management and environmental strategy, but it does not currently have a target for its generation base.
