Council's electricity supply goes fully green

Cambridge City Council is to buy all of its electricity from 100 per cent renewable sources for the first time from this month onwards, as part of a sustainability push.

The council currently spends approximately £1 millon per year on electricity across all of its various sites, and based on the council’s average energy consumption, the extra cost of moving to 100 per cent renewable energy will be approximately £1,400 per year.

The council is a member of the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO), and has therefore been able to secure nine million kWh of Pure Green Energy from Total Gas and Supply.

The council will benefit from electricity matched to Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs), providing transparency on the proportion of energy coming from renewable sources and allowing the council to record this in their annual Greenhouse Gas report as an emission reduction against their gross emissions.

Cllr Richard Robertson, executive councillor for Finance and Resources, said: “This is a major initiative demonstrating our commitment to a sustainable Cambridge. It fully supports the principles of the council’s recently agreed Climate Change Strategy (2016 – 2021) and Carbon Management Plan, which explain how we will play our part in addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.

“In the decades ahead, renewable energies will play an increasingly important role as a supplement to fossil fuels. Total Gas and Supply estimate that renewables and hydraulic power will represent 20 per cent of the global energy mix by 2035, compared to 13 per cent in 2010. We are leading the way in helping to reduce emissions for future generations.”