Scottish butcher completes £2 million solar upgrade

Simon Howie Butchers has completed a £2m sustainability project at its factory, which should save 900 tonnes of CO2_e over the next three years.

A new energy system, with a 2.1MW solar panel array, will produce up to 40% of the site’s daytime energy requirements and 150% of electricity demand in the summer months. The company also has plans to install a wind turbine to complement the solar system throughout winter months.

Two 450KWh lithium batteries and two 12,000 litre water storage tanks have also been installed and integrated using intelligent control systems, meaning that even the most energy intensive factory lines can run on solar power.

The project was borne out of a strong desire to protect the planet, but also from a fundamental need to ensure the long-term viability of the business in the face of soaring energy costs, peaking at a 10-fold year-on-year increase.

Since investing in this infrastructure, Simon Howie has had the confidence to employ a further 11 staff, growing the company to 122 employees in rural Perthshire.

The eponymous owner explained: “The climate emergency is real and businesses taking on the responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint is, understandably, becoming more and more important to the consumer.

“Couple this with the spiralling and uncontrollable energy price increases we all experienced and investing in sustainable green energy become a ‘must-do’ as far as we were concerned.

“We want our customers to know we are doing all that we can to insulate them from cost-of-living increases and to make the right changes for the benefit of the planet.”

The works were part-funded by a £500,000 of grant from Scottish Enterprise.

Chief executive Adrian Gillespie added: “This innovative project will result in 300 tonnes of CO2_e savings annually and puts the business on a strong footing for the future.

“Scottish Enterprise looks forward to continuing to work with the company to realise the impact of this investment, both for their business and the environment.”

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