Climate Change Data

Greencoat UK Wind PLC

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2022, 2023)

Reporting Period: 2022

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:137,732 tCO2e/year (Scope 1, 2, and 3)
Scope 1 Emissions:149 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:1,422 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:136,161 tCO2e/year
Total Energy Consumption:4,362 GWh/year

ESG Focus Areas

  • Environmental
  • Social
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Generated 4,362 GWh of renewable energy, enough to power 1.5 million homes for a year and avoided 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
  • 100% of onshore assets have habitat management plans.
  • Launched a £250,000 impact programme to support academic research on wind turbine blade recycling.

Social Achievements

  • Invested £4.0 million in community funds or social projects.
  • 100% of staff involved in operations completed health and safety training.
  • Improved welfare facilities in five remote wind farms.

Governance Achievements

  • Implemented internal controls/audit system/Board level oversight and relevant ESG policies across all assets.
  • Complied with all applicable anti-bribery and corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations.
  • Enhanced cyber resilience through vulnerability and penetration testing and ongoing monitoring.

Climate Goals & Targets

Medium-term Goals:
  • Reduce the intensity of scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 (Manager's commitment)

Environmental Challenges

  • Turbine blade recyclability remains a global challenge.
  • Cyber attacks pose a significant risk to the effective operation of wind farms.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Sponsored university academic research on turbine blade recycling.
  • Implemented enhanced cyber security resilience programme.
  • Replaced fuel-inefficient crew transfer vessel with a more fuel-efficient model.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 93% of assets received health and safety audits from operating managers; 60% of operating wind farms had an independent health and safety audit undertaken.

Responsible Procurement
  • Due diligence to ensure service providers are reputable and responsible; Code of Conduct Side Letter for providers lacking equivalent compliance.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: SASB, TCFD, SFDR, PRI

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
  • SDG 13: Climate action

Investing in renewable generation; avoiding CO2 emissions.

Reporting Period: 2023

Environmental Metrics

Scope 1 Emissions:13 tonnes CO2
Scope 2 Emissions:2,162 tonnes CO2 (location-based), 1,485 tonnes CO2 (market-based)
Scope 3 Emissions:261,138 tonnes CO2
Carbon Intensity:1,193 tonnes CO2e/£ million revenue

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change Mitigation
  • Community Investment
  • Health and Safety
  • Board Diversity

Environmental Achievements

  • Generated 4,743 GWh of renewable electricity, avoiding approximately 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.
  • Funding a £250,000 program to advance knowledge on blade recycling and repurposing.

Social Achievements

  • Provided £4.4 million to community funds.
  • Supported the Errogie Church project, repurposing a church into a community hub.

Governance Achievements

  • Appointment of Abigail Rotheroe to the Board, bringing extensive experience in investment and asset management with a focus on ESG.
  • Annual internal evaluation of the Board raised no significant issues.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Maintain annual dividend increases in line with RPI inflation while preserving capital value.
Medium-term Goals:
  • Continue to grow portfolio in line with market opportunities.
Short-term Goals:
  • Refinance near-maturing revolving credit facility and term debt.

Environmental Challenges

  • Low wind resulted in portfolio generation 13 percent below budget.
  • Higher interest rates could make the listed infrastructure asset class relatively less attractive to investors.
  • Potential for retrospective changes in UK Government renewable energy policy.
  • Risk of damage from extreme weather events.
  • Increased reputational risks associated with climate-related disclosures and reporting obligations.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Increased discount rate to maintain a suitable premium over increased risk-free rates.
  • Board and Investment Manager keep abreast of developments in international support for renewable energy and respond to changes when and if they happen.
  • Procuring property damage and business interruption insurance.
  • Engaging specialist consultants to measure and report on the Company’s carbon emissions.
  • Internal processes to monitor emerging climate-related disclosure regulations.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 16 O&M partners audited for health and safety.

Responsible Procurement
  • Investment Manager’s Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
Transition Risks
  • Retrospective policy changes
  • Reduced power prices due to increased renewable generation capacity
Opportunities
  • Increased investor interest in renewable energy funds
  • Increased demand for renewable energy generation

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD, EU SFDR (Article 9)

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management systems)

Third-party Assurance: BDO LLP

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 7
  • SDG 13

Generating renewable electricity and enabling capital recycling contribute to SDG 7 (ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) and SDG 13 (take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts).