Green energy Archives

Iceland Foods Opens Warehouse

Posted on 21 April, 202531 July, 2025 by Will Priestman

Iceland Foods has opened the doors to a 500,000sq ft warehouse in Warrington which will be operated by GXO Logistics. The £100m facility will employ more than 750 people.

Located at Omega Park, the new site is Iceland’s largest warehouse to date. It will serve as a major hub for distributing products to over 350 Iceland stores nationwide, with the potential to expand its reach to 500 locations in the future.

The warehouse, which includes ambient, chill, and frozen chambers, has been designed with future growth in mind, incorporating state-of-the-art technology to drive efficiency and ensure a resilient supply chain.

Iceland’s investment also supports a more sustainable operation, with the site partly powered by solar panels to increase green energy consumption.

Tarsem Dhaliwal OBE, Iceland Foods chief executive (pictured right), said: “We’re always looking at ways to make our business stronger, more efficient, and better for our customers. Investing in our supply chain is a huge part of that, and this new state-of-the-art warehouse is a game-changer.

“It gives us the capacity to grow, improve service, and future-proof our operations for years to come. Warrington means a lot to me personally, as the place where I grew up, and it gives me particular pleasure to have been able to make such a major investment here.

“We’re proud to be employing more than 750 people and delivering real economic benefits to the local community.”

Gavin Williams, GXO MD for the UK and Ireland (pictured left), said: “We’re proud to be delivering the next phase of our logistics partnership with Iceland as we support their long-term ambitions with a warehouse that is fit for the future.

“The new Warrington regional distribution centre is great news for the local community and for our colleagues, who will help us assist Iceland’s growth plans across the country.”

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Sustainable Power for Warehousing

Posted on 27 January, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Tritax Symmetry has entered into its first joint enterprise project with BasePower, a developer and operator of sustainable energy services, to supply clients at Symmetry Park Biggleswade with uninterrupted greener, cheaper warehousing power solutions, through the creation of a new on site 2MW energy centre.

Located on a greenfield site where the grid is constrained, the centre will augment the grid with renewable and resilient generation from a number of sources including rooftop solar PV, batteries and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.

The announcement is the latest in a series of sustainability measures the developer has taken in recent years to de-carbonise its schemes including achieving net zero carbon in construction across all of its construction programmes.

The project was specified, designed, procured and built by BasePower who will continue to develop energy systems in line with the evolving needs of the tenants.

The principal contractors on the project included Rolls Royce, whose Power Systems division installed the mtu-brand CHP systems, battery units and standby generators. Powersystems UK acted as the high voltage (HV) specialist partner for the electrical infrastructure. Service personnel from Rolls-Royce Power System’s UK subsidiary will provide ongoing maintenance to ensure operational excellence.

Speaking about the alliance, Tom Leeming, development director at Tritax Symmetry commented: “One of the priorities our clients have when deciding on a new location for their business is power. As a responsible developer, we realised the need to supplement and enhance the national grid supply to ensure a continuous, robust and greener alternative power supply for our occupiers.
“The installation of energy centres on our parks will provide tenants at the site with greater resilience, more competitive energy and a pathway to fully net zero carbon in occupation. As the energy centre is managed by a separate entity, all maintenance and repairs are delivered cost free with no risk to the occupier. We estimate a saving of between five and ten percent on grid energy bills, and the energy centres are also upgradable if extra power is needed, such as by adding additional PV.”

Dan Poulson, co-founder at BasePower continued: “The need for the creation of alternative energy resources has never been greater and we are proud to have been selected by Tritax Symmetry for this project in Biggleswade along with multiple energy projects on their other sites. Across our business we currently operate ten energy centres in the UK with a further 20 in development. Through their lifecycles we invest to enhance each site to deliver increasing levels of decarbonisation as client requirements evolve.”

Rob Pitt, Director – Operations at Rolls-Royce Solutions UK commented: “This project has been a great opportunity for collaboration and partnership with the client team from initial concept design through to project delivery and ongoing operational support. Our extensive product portfolio and system capabilities enabled us to provide an integrated microgrid solution that enhances the local grid supply and delivers on the brief for cleaner, resilient power that can flex in line with site demands”.

Green Cubes appoints industry veteran as COO

Posted on 6 August, 2021 by Keith McKinley

Green Cubes Technology, a leader in producing Lithium-ion (Li-ion) power systems that facilitate the transition from lead acid batteries and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) power to green Li-ion battery power, has appointed Ken Johnson as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Johnson reports to Keith Washington, President and CEO of Green Cubes, supporting all business units and operations.

Johnson provides leadership to supply chain, operations, and manufacturing roles to build processes for continued growth for Green Cubes within telecom, materials handling, and industrial automation markets. Johnson will manage Green Cube’s production facilities in Malaysia, Slovakia, Kokomo (Indiana), and Dunlap (Tennessee).

“Ken has led both domestic and international operations and supply chains through new product introduction, lean transformations, inventory reductions and overall working capital improvement,” said Washington. “I am confident his experience and focused vision will help Green Cubes successfully execute its continued growth within strategic markets and geographic locations.”

Johnson has a history of success in energy storage and power electronics technology as an operations leader with a demonstrated track record of success in these markets, spending over 25 years in global manufacturing and supply chain with companies such as IBM, Danaher, Eaton and Active Power. The range of products manufactured under Johnson’s supervision includes personal computers, motors, DC power systems and single-phase/three-phase complex Uninterruptable Power System (UPS). Johnson graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degree from Texas A&M in Industrial Engineering.

Agility Announces Solar Projects to Provide Clean Power

Posted on 25 November, 2020 by Keith McKinley

Agility, a global logistics provider, announced solar projects in Dubai and Jordan that will eventually cut the company’s carbon footprint in the region by 5%.

At Agility’s regional headquarters in Dubai, the solar photovoltaic (PV) plant involves installation of 17,500 panels at three sites with the capacity to generate nearly 8 mega-watts of power at peak. Installation will include a 5.45 MW system at two sites in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), and a 2.6 MW system at the Dubai Investment Park. Once complete, Agility’s solar PV system will generate enough electricity to cover 60% of the energy requirements at the sites and save an estimated 8,838 tons of CO2 each year, roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by trucking 18,000 fully-loaded containers from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.

In Jordan, the solar photovoltaic plant will encompass 1,945 panels at Agility’s warehouse in Aqaba, with a capacity of 788 kilo-watt peak. The solar plant will generate enough electricity to cover 100% of the energy requirements and save an estimated 900 tons of CO2 each year.

In both locations, the high-efficiency solar PV panels are designed to optimize energy generation in hot desert climates. The panel systems incorporate robotic cleaning and are waterproofed.

“Globally, Agility’s goal is to reduce its carbon footprint by 25% by 2050. Our investment in these solar projects is a huge step in the right direction and will cut the company’s global emissions by 3%. We are hopeful that it encourages other companies in the region to do the same. We know that greening operations is good for business and good for the planet,” says Elias Monem, CEO Middle East & Africa, Agility GIL.

The project is consistent with the goals of the UAE’s Shams Solar Policy, a local initiative for distributed solar plants in the United Arab Emirates.

In both Dubai and Jordan, Clenergize Solar Consultants was appointed as the project advisors to handle the engineering specifications, tendering, contract management, design reviews and project management.

Earlier this month Agility reported that contract Logistics was continuing to experience strong growth (12.7% net revenue growth), mainly in the MEA Region in their Q3 financial perfromance update. For more information click here

eFuel Alliance Gains New Member

Posted on 5 November, 2020 by Keith McKinley

The mobility service provider DKV Mobility has joined the eFuel Alliance initiative. Its aim is to ensure that eFuels gain political acceptance and official recognition as a major contributor to sustainable climate protection.

In contrast to conventional fuel, eFuel is climate-neutral and does not release any additional CO2. The synthetic fuels are already compatible with current combustion engines, so that the existing transport, distribution and fuel infrastructure can continue to be used. The greatest potential for eFuel lies in the road transport sector, as it can be produced into either eDiesel or ePetrol (initially as an admixture to conventional fuels) and eventually as an environmental-friendly full substitute for them.

“We are very pleased to be involved in the eFuel Alliance for alternative fuels. The EU’s committed climate targets can only be achieved by combining electric mobility with other alternative drive systems – eFuels can play a major role in this, especially due to their compatibility with the existing infrastructure,” says Marc Erkens, Head of Sustainability and New Mobility at DKV Mobility. “In the medium term we want to become the leading provider of sustainable mobility services in our industry”.

DKV already offers the largest LNG supply network in Europe with 100 stations. The company also offers its customers access to over 100,000 charging points for electric and hybrid vehicles. Every year, DKV connects 5,000 new filling stations, with a strong focus on multi-energy filling stations that offer alternative fuels such as LNG, CNG and LPG in addition to conventional fuels.

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