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Drinks giant Diageo’s new Fife solar farm among largest in Scotland

The completed solar farm will generate up to 60% of the site’s annual electrical demand in the summer months.  

Kerry Easter and Jay Christie of Diageo at the Leven solar array. Image: Diageo.
Kerry Easter and Jay Christie of Diageo at the Leven solar array. Image: Diageo.

Drinks giant Diageo has completed installation of a huge 8,000 panel solar farm at its base in Fife.

The firm’s Leven facility is its largest global packaging plant. It produces more than 40 million cases of premium spirits every year.

And the drinks company has installed one of the largest private solar panel arrays in Scotland. It consists of 8,000 panels on an area the size of eight football pitches adjacent to the packaging plant.

The solar panels will generate up to 22% of the site’s annual electrical demand, and up to 60% in the summer months.

Inside the Diageo facility, which produces more than 40 million cases of spirits every year.

The farm will produce 4.1MW of electricity. That is enough to power 2,500 homes for a year. It will reduce CO2 emissions by about 830 tonnes a year.

The investment in the solar panel is part of Diageo’s Society 2030 commitment to decarbonise its direct operations by the end of the decade.

A proud moment for Diageo Leven

Operations director at Diageo Leven Stuart Galbraith said: “This is a very proud moment for the team at Diageo Leven who have worked to make this project a reality.

“Our people are passionate about protecting the environment and building a sustainable future.

“It is fantastic to know that as we work to make some of the world’s greatest quality products we are doing it with renewable energy produced by the Scottish daylight.”

Kerry Easter and Jay Christie of Diageo at the new solar farm. Image: Diageo.

The project is going live alongside a rainwater harvesting development. That will deliver up to seven million litres of water a year that will be reused on the site.

Having reduced half of the carbon in its operations already, the business aims to remove the rest by 2030, harnessing 100% renewable energy everywhere it operates.

The firm has also committed to partnering with suppliers to reduce indirect carbon emissions by 50%.

Diageo employs more than 1,000 people at its packaging plant in Leven.

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