Mackays Group (M&Co), a high end retailer in the UK, announced it would power all 300 of its stores with wind energy, and has come up with a novel way to do it.
Rather than purchasing electricity from wind farms, as most retailers do, M&Co created its own renewable energy subsidiary, MEG Renewables, which will own and operate all its wind turbines. It will provide the risk capital to build turbines on farmers' land, at no expense to landowners.
The sites will be small - enough space for 1-3 small-to-medium-scale wind turbines, that will have a combined capacity of 500 kilowatts to 5 megawatts.
The company estimates it will need about 20 megawatts of capacity to service its shops.
"As well as providing a secure source of renewable electricity, in line with our desire to minimise our carbon footprint, owning our own wind turbines provides a valuable hedge against any future upward movements in electricity prices," says Duncan Black, energy manager for M&Co.
It's planning to site wind turbines at small sites across Britain.
