By John Connell

Last updated at 13:20, Friday, 20 July 2012

A food company has become one of the biggest solar energy plants in Cumbria

Pioneer Foodservice has had 272 solar panels installed on the roof of its cold store at its Rosehill headquarters.

The ambitious project makes it the second biggest solar energy plant in Cumbria after M-Sport at Dovenby in Cockermouth.

Graham Jenkins, managing director of Pioneer, said it showed the company’s commitment to green energy.

“It’s a big thing for us. First of all it’s obviously a very clean way of creating electricity. It reduces our CO2 emissions and our reliance on buying energy.

“I would like to think it is a very sound investment, both from an environmental and economic point of view.”

Mr Jenkins declined to reveal how much the project had cost, only that it was a six-figure sum.

He said that it would be six or seven years before the company met the cost of the original investment.

But he added that the panels would continue to make the company money for about 20 years after this.

The panels, which generate 65 kilowatts, have been installed by Harraby-based EcoLogicLiving Ltd.

Mr Jenkins said: “They are a really good company to work with and have done a really good job.

“There are also economic and environmental benefits to using a local company.”

The panels have been placed on the cold store because it is south facing and the roof is strong enough to support them.

Work began on the installation about a month ago and the panels are due to start generating electricity for the company this month.

Pioneer will use the electricity it generates rather than feeding it back into the grid.

Mr Jenkins said the company was a big electricity user because of all the fridges and freezers it needs for its operations.

Pioneer will see a return in its investment under the Feed-In Tariff, a Government scheme which allows green energy users to get money back from their supplier.

Pioneer employs around 300 people and supplies food and drink to pubs, restaurants, hotels and cafes across Cumbria and south west Scotland.

The installation is one of several EcoLogicLiving projects in the region.

Islam Pearson, EcoLogicLiving’s managing director, said that they were also installing 208 panels on the roof of the livestock area of Harrison & Hetherington’s Borderway Mart in Rosehill Carlisle.

The solar panels, which will generate 50 kilowatts, are due to be generating power by the end of the month.

He added that the company had also installed 140 solar panels for Alasdair Houston at Gretna Green which will generate 34 kilowatts.

First published at 13:06, Friday, 20 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk