The new 7-megawatt, 23-acre project located in the Ochil Hills, Perthshire will supply up to a quarter of the drinks firm’s electricity needs for its main Blackford site, as well as a free-of-charge electricity supply to Blackford Primary School and rapid EV chargers for community use.
Construction is due to begin in summer this year and is expected to be fully operational by early 2026. SSE has been appointed to manage the installation and running of the solar site on behalf of Highland Spring Group.
Simon Oldham, managing director Highland Spring Group said: “Environmental and social responsibility have always been at the heart of our purpose and this project not only positively supports our sustainability strategy but our good neighbour programme too.
Renewable energy transition
“Harnessing the renewable energy transition is a key part of our journey towards a zero-carbon future, and we are delighted to have collaborated with SSE to bring this solar site to life.”
Highland Spring’s latest green project followed a recent £10m investment at the Blackford site, which provide circa 35% of extra capacity.
The site boasts a dedicated freight facility that transports 40% of the water supplied from the main bottling plant by rail, removing 8,000 HGV movements from the roads and saving more than 3,000 tonnes of C)” emissions each year.
Bank backing
To further its green aims, and to help the manufacturer achieve its goal of £200 million sales by 2030, High Land Spring secured Bank of Scotland and Barclays backing in the form of term and revolving facilities of £50 million.
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Jim Fairlie added: “Highland Spring are an important local employer who have done a power of work in recent years to decarbonise. I welcome this partnership between Highland Spring and SSE, and the community benefit that it will bring both for the school and with the community use EV chargers.”
Meanwhile, the announcement of Highland Spring’s new solar farm some one month after the appointment of Paul Dobson as the manufacturer’s new operations director.
An industry expert with more than 35 years of manufacturing experience, Dobson will lead all the group’s operational function, including manufacturing, engineering and supply chain.
