The UK government has issued its Clean Power Action Plan entitled ‘A New Era of Clean Electricity’. The plan highlights the opportunity to use warehouse roofs for solar power generation.

In his foreword, The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, said that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain has experienced a devastating cost of living crisis caused by its exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets.  He said the solution was to ‘sprint’ to clean, homegrown energy. The government’s plan is to work with the clean power sector, including industry, trade unions, investors, policy makers and others to achieve its clean power goal.

The UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) has hailed the acknowledgement of warehouse rooftop’s potential contribution to the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan as a ‘breakthrough’ for the sector. It recognises “There is great potential for rooftop solar installation across the UK’s warehouse and industrial sectors”. It references the major research project commissioned by UKWA, which indicates that the UK’s 20% largest warehouses alone can provide 75 million sq m of roof space, with the potential to support up to 15 GW of rooftop solar capacity.

Commenting, UKWA CEO Clare Bottle said: “We commissioned research into the benefits and barriers of solar power on warehouse rooftops in 2022, against a background of rising prices and compromised energy security due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Our report revealed potential annual savings of £3bn for the warehousing sector, carbon reductions of two million tonnes per year, and critically, the opportunity for the sector to double UK’s solar capacity.”

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan can be read here.