Clarkson’s Hawkstone Brewery turns to solar with Geo Green Power installation

Hawkstone Brewery, the Cotswolds brewer co-founded by Jeremy Clarkson, is installing solar power for the first time. It has appointed Nottinghamshire-based Geo Green Power to fit a rooftop solar PV system that will run machinery across its Gloucestershire brewery. It is one of a growing number of hospitality businesses producing their own electricity to protect themselves from high energy prices.

The system is being installed at Hawkstone’s brewery in Bourton-on-the-Water, and work starts this month. The electricity will run the brewery’s production processes, from the milling machines to the heating and cooling systems.

It comes as rooftop installations continue to increase across the UK. Official solar photovoltaics deployment statistics from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero track a steady rise in capacity. Campaigners have argued for a rooftop-first approach to solar rather than building on productive farmland.

The system will use Canadian Solar modules mounted on Renusol fixings, with a SolarEdge inverter and SolarEdge optimisers. Once it is running, it is expected to generate 24.25MWh of electricity a year and cut carbon emissions by 4.9 tonnes a year. Geo Green Power says that is the equivalent of planting 215 trees.

The brewery should also see lower energy bills and more protection from price swings. It will also cut its Scope 2 emissions, the indirect emissions from the electricity a business buys. High energy costs have put pressure on margins across the hospitality sector, and more big venues are installing their own generation. The London Stadium’s solar panels passed one million kWh in just over a year.

Ben Bonham, head brewer at Hawkstone, said the investment followed naturally from the brewery’s efforts to improve how it runs.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve how we operate, and investing in solar energy is a natural next step for us,” he said. “Brewing is an energy-intensive process, so generating our own renewable electricity will help us reduce our environmental impact while making the brewery more efficient and resilient.”

Geo Green Power was chosen partly because of its close ties to Britain’s farming and hospitality sectors, which Hawkstone shares.

James Cunningham, managing director of Geo Green Power, said the company’s experience installing solar for hospitality businesses made it a good fit for the brewery.

“We’re incredibly excited to get started on this fantastic project, and with our extensive solar experience within the hospitality industry, we know what a great opportunity this is for Hawkstone Brewery,” he said.

“It’s also brilliant to be working with a business which also champions agriculture and Britain’s farms. This is something we’ve also seen first-hand, having shared an adjacent tent to the Hawkstone team at this year’s Cereals Event held at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm.”

He added: “This approach is something we highly value at Geo Green Power, as we proudly support farmers and farms across the country with commercial solar, and again, we have seen the positive impact investment in renewables has had for these communities.”

SolarEdge and Renusol are supplying equipment for the project. Geo Green Power’s other supplier partners are UK Greentech, the site access equipment supplier YardLink and CJW Scaffolding. Geo Green Power’s own team will carry out the installation and provide ongoing service and maintenance.