John Wainwright and Co. Ltd, (Wainwright) has signed a major new partnership with energy company, Wattstor, that will provide protection from future energy price volatility and support its sustainability agenda.

A new 2MW solar PV array and innovative 5MWh battery storage system will be installed at Wainwright’s Moons Hill quarry in Stoke St Michael, marking a major step in supporting the business’s ambition to power its site using renewable sources, as well as helping it achieve its long-term expansion plans.

In addition, Wainwright will benefit from Wattstor’s renewable energy tariff, Price Protect, which caps exposure to high market prices while allowing the business to benefit when prices fall, providing valuable long-term certainty with its energy costs.

The Price Protect tariff also means that, for the first time, Wainwright will have the ability to look ahead and take advantage of price signals, enabling it to shift some of its most energy intensive processes to times of lower demand, reducing overall costs.

Kevin Ball, Chief Commercial Officer at Wattstor, said: “For energy intensive industries, such as quarrying, that require significant amounts of power for heavy industrial equipment and heat, the recent volatility in the wholesale energy markets has created major uncertainty.

“However, due to grid constraints, making the solar ambition a reality for Wainwright was not a straightforward process. The grid would only allow 1MW to be connected, which meant that the company could only generate 20% of its power from an onsite solar project.

“Our solution means that Wainwright will benefit from more than double the amount of solar power, resulting in a 50% reduction in its Scope 2 emissions, and increase the potential for more onsite renewable energy to be installed in the future.”

Tom Longland, CEO at John Wainwright and Co., said: “As well as providing an innovative solution to the grid constraint issue, the solar array plus battery storage, coupled with Wattstor’s Price Protect tariff, gives us cost certainty, shielding us from price spikes and allowing us to take advantage when prices are low. For energy intensive industries like ours, where power is now a major proportion of our operating costs, this certainty both increases our confidence and supports business resilience.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8IhGExZ6qY

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