Accolade Park in landmark wind energy first

Accolade Park, Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution centre, has transferred 50% of its energy to wind power after installing a new 2.5MW wind turbine at its Avonmouth site, in a landmark move for the industry.

Accolade Park ahs become the UK’s first business to install a wind turbine

The move is a first of the UK, as the site is not owned by Accolade Wines itself, and required the approval of both the local planning authorities and the site owners.

According to the company, on-site wind generation has only ever been implemented by companies that own their own property, so the installation of the new 130m high wind turbine is a new landmark in renewable energy in the wine industry.

“Getting a wind turbine up on mainland England is a feat in itself but to change the standard is truly exceptional and this landmark case is paving the way for other businesses to source renewable energy,” the company said.

Richard Lloyd, general manager, European operations and supply chain at Accolade Wines said the company was committed to identifying and delivering sustainable operations at the 80,000sq. m site. “The need to source renewable electricity is very evident and having our own wind turbine is a significant part of the solution. We were all determined to make it happen,” he said.

“The wind turbine is a significant step in our journey to create a sustainable business and builds on significant emissions reductions already achieved at Accolade Park.”

Ade McKeon, regional managing director, UK and Ireland, said a company objective was to lead the way in sustainable wine production. “Many customers are recognising the need to reduce carbon emissions across the supply chain by sourcing from sustainable businesses and we are proud to be on this journey with them,” he said.

Accolade Park was built in 2008 on the 35.63 acre site in Avonmouth, and has since grown to become the UK and Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution facility, capable of producing 1,200 bottles of wine every minute or 600 million bottles every year. This represents one third of all wine consumed in Britain each year, but the centre is used to import, process, bottle and package wine for the UK market but also acts as a hub to ship wines to mainland Europe. 

In 2017, a group of South Korean investors paid £62 million for the Avonmouth site.