ENERGY GIANT LEADS WAY IN MOVE TO BE GREENER
ScottishPower focuses renewable energy for ambitious city target
FAMOUS as a global hub of heavy industry, Glasgow was once a city of grit, grime, and pollution.
But in the 200 years since Glasgow was the second city of the Empire it has become a pioneer of the green industrial revolution.
So far along is the “Dear Green Place” in this race, that it was an obvious choice to host the world’s largest ever climate conference – the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.
The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow when global leaders arrive to discuss the most pressing environmental issues facing the planet. With the effects of climate change apparent, the conference is an opportunity to secure agreements on reducing carbon emissions and achieving Net Zero by 2050.
But Glasgow is a step ahead. Named Global Green City for 2020, Glasgow has scored top marks in planning, transport, low carbon and energy efficiency, transportation, buildings, open spaces and the economy.
The city has also set ambitious targets well ahead of the rest of the UK, to reach Net Zero by 2030 – and ScottishPower have pledged to help them reach this goal.
As the first integrated energy company in the UK to generate 100 per cent green electricity,
ScottishPower has been leading the journey to a sustainable future.
Its HQ has been in the Glasgow area for more than 65 years and it has pledged to make Glasgow the UK’s first Net Zero City.
For a city like Glasgow to reinvent itself so completely is no mean feat. Today, when you stand in the centre of Glasgow the Finnieston Crane frames the skyline, a monument to the city’s shipbuilding heritage.
But look south and you’ll be able to see the turbines of Whitelee, the UK’s largest onshore wind farm, on the horizon.
Just 20 minutes from the city, Whitelee’s 215 turbines can generate more than 500 megawatts of electricity – enough to power nearly 350,000 homes per year.
We are too reliant on fossil fuels – as the recent fuel crisis showed – and the fluctuating prices of buying them from overseas. Yet Britain could become entirely selfsufficient on renewable electricity.
The project to upgrade the national grid to support renewable energy is one of the UK’s largest, fastest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in living memory.
ScottishPower is spending billions revolutionising the distribution network and it has closed coal plants, ditched gas, and built onshore, offshore and solar generation facilities.
ScottishPower CEO Keith Anderson says the shift from fossil fuels towards green energy is the defining challenge of our time.
He says: “We’re extremely proud to be providing the energy network infrastructure, new products and green energy solutions that will help to power Glasgow’s drive to zero carbon by 2030.”