Pepsi to implement £3.6 million warehouse solar panel project
The solar panels will be installed across 30,000 square metres of roof space at Pepsi’s Southern Region distribution centre in Leicester.
WORKING WITH Ineco Energy, the panels are expected to generate 100% of the energy needed to power the logistics centre over the course of a year, reducing demand on the national electricity grid.[1]
The 3.56 MWp solar power system is expected to generate around 2.84 GWh of renewable electricity each year. Any surplus electricity will go towards powering its Walkers crisps factory next door.
The £3.6m solar panel installation follows a £14m investment to upgrade the distribution centre in 2021. The distribution centre plays a key part in Pepsi’s UK supply chain, employing 240 people and distributing products made at six factories across the country. This marked one of the biggest UK logistics investments in our history and saw equipment and technology introduced across the site.
Construction of the solar power system is already underway, with installation expected to be completed by September.
PepsiCo UK warehousing & logistics director Andy Smethurst, says: “Leicester is already home to one of the world’s largest crisp factories, and now we’re delivering one of the most complex solar power systems, right here in the East Midlands. It’s a major milestone for PepsiCo UK and shows how we’re continuing to find new ways to power our sites and operate more sustainably.”
[1] As solar power is generated during the day, the site will remain connected to the grid and take power from it overnight as needed. Surplus energy generated by the panels throughout the day will be returned to the grid, and the system is expected to generate the same amount of electricity over the year as the site consumes annually.
