Our new solar farm lights the way to sector-leading sustainability investment

We have taken significant steps to a sustainable future after signing a 50 GWh Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

From 2025, we will source 70% of our electricity needs from a solar farm in central England, replacing our current mainstream electricity supply.

This sector-leading investment will provide renewable energy to each of our 17 sites for 15 years, delivering annual carbon savings of 14,000 tonnes, equivalent to the energy usage of 13,500 households.

Stephen Harrison, Forterra’s Chief Executive, said, “This agreement will provide us with price security and stability, alongside the clear sustainability benefits.

“It sees us make tangible progress in the race to net zero. Rather than relying on green energy generated by others, we are actually investing in a dedicated source of renewable energy generation helping to decarbonise the grid, something that is critical to the UK’s net zero journey. We also aim to generate another 10% of our electricity requirement from our own on-site solar and wind renewables by 2025.

“Overall, we have implemented ambitious ESG targets. Between 2010-19 we reduced our carbon emissions by 22% and have pledged to reduce them by a further 32% by 2030.”

The investment follows a series of other important measures we have announced to reduce our carbon footprint, including a reduction in single-use plastic used to wrap our products, the use of HVO (bio diesel) fuel to power all the mobile machinery at our Measham facility, the switch to electric and hybrid vehicles in our car fleet, and a £21-million investment in our haulage fleet further advancing towards becoming entirely Euro 6 compliant.

We are also currently developing the largest and most efficient brick factory in Europe at our Desford plant in Leicestershire.