Wed 15 Aug 2007
Tesco strikes blow for green energy
ADRIAN MATHER
The Scotsman

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco wants to erect a ten-metre high wind turbine to power the check-outs at its biggest Edinburgh store. The turbine will be installed in the car park of its Extra store in Corstorphine, subject to winning the backing of city planners. It would be the first Tesco store to be part of a national drive to halve the supermarket chain's in-store energy consumption within three years.

It follows a similar scheme in Wick, Caithness, where solar panels and five wind turbines were built on the roof of a new store to provide a tenth of its electricity needs. The Edinburgh scheme would provide a similar share of the store's power. A Tesco spokesman said: "We have been looking at a few sites across the UK as locations for these turbines, and the Corstorphine Extra store is one that we are keen to see a scheme developed in. It is a suitable location and, although we will have to wait and see what the planning department think about the application, we are hopeful it will prove satisfactory.

"We erected wind turbines at our new store in Wick at the end of last year, which have been very successful. This proposal is likely to follow the same mould in that it will provide renewable energy for the store's checkouts. It may only provide a small proportion of the total energy used in the supermarket, but this is part of a UK-wide initiative that we are committed to. We need to try to provide renewable energy at as many of our stores as possible."

A site near the store's car park boundary wall, next to the police station on Meadow Place Road has been earmarked for the turbine, which would have a maximum height of 10.6 metres, around 35 feet. It will include a steel tower and frame, with aluminium blades, and will be painted cream. Environmental groups welcomed the move, although they said the Tesco would have to prove that it was serious about becoming environmentally-friendly.

Friends of the Earth Scotland's chief executive Duncan McLaren said: "Supermarkets are big users of energy and, as a result, are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions.
"The use of small-scale renewables such as wind turbines and solar panels in urban settings like this is to be welcomed. "However, given its size, Tesco is going to have to do something like this at every store to have any real impact on its emissions."

The city's environmental leader, Robert Aldridge, said: "While I am not at liberty to comment on specific planning applications, I can say that the council is generally in favour of micro-generation from renewable sources." Kenneth Swinney, of Corstorphine community council, said he was unsure how the proposal would go down with neighbours. He said: " I wonder how much of the car park it will take up."

Last year, Tesco successfully applied for permission to build three 60-foot-high turbines outside one of its stores in Glasgow.

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