OurCoop has been awarded Bronze in the Transformation Project of the Year category at the 2026 Global Sustainability Awards, recognising the Society’s ambitious green energy transformation and its work to accelerate renewable energy both across its own estate and in communities across the UK.
The award recognises OurCoop’s approach to using its scale as the UK’s largest independent co-operative to accelerate decarbonisation, strengthen long-term energy resilience and extend the benefits of clean energy beyond its own operations.
Formed in January 2026 through the coming together of Central Co-op, The Midcounties Co-operative and Chelmsford Star Co-op, OurCoop has brought together the environmental foundations of three established co-operative societies. This has enabled the Society to use its combined scale across almost 500 Food stores, alongside its Travel, Funeral, Early Years, Mobile, Broadband and Energy businesses, to accelerate renewable energy generation, procurement and energy efficiency.
A key part of the transformation has been the expansion of OurCoop’s solar programme, with panels now installed across more than 130 sites. Over the past 12 months, these have generated around 4.7 GWh of renewable electricity and saved more than 800 tonnes of CO₂.
OurCoop has also taken a collaborative approach to securing long-term renewable electricity. The Society led a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) linked to the London Array offshore wind farm on behalf of a consortium of five independent co-operatives, providing up to 56 GWh of green electricity each year. A second CPPA is also generating enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of the former Chelmsford Star estate in its entirety, and more.
The transformation is also focused on reducing the amount of energy OurCoop uses. Automation and remote monitoring technology has been introduced in refrigeration systems across the food retail estate. Since 2024, this has reduced energy consumption by 2.5 GWh and more than 400 tonnes of CO₂, while delivering around £500,000 in annual electricity savings.
But the Society’s ambition extends beyond reducing its own environmental footprint.
Through Younity, its joint venture with Octopus Energy, OurCoop supports almost 300 renewable power purchase agreements across 100 community energy organisations, helping local projects generate and benefit from clean energy.
Younity provides community energy organisations with bespoke PPAs, funding and practical support to overcome some of the barriers that can prevent projects from growing. It has also supported organisations through grant funding to support social impact projects and launched Community Energy Connect, a free volunteer matchmaking platform enabling volunteers to find opportunities within the community energy sector.
OurCoop and Younity have also developed consumer-facing innovation through the Community Power Tariff, which is powered entirely by community-generated electricity.
Mike Pickering, Head of Sustainability at OurCoop, said: “Being recognised at the Global Sustainability Awards is a fantastic endorsement of what can be achieved when we use the scale and strength of co-operation to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our society.
“Our green energy transformation is about much more than changing where we get our electricity. It is about investing in renewable generation, reducing energy consumption, building resilience and finding ways to make clean energy work for communities too.
“From our own stores and businesses to community energy projects across the country, we’re demonstrating that organisations can take practical action to reduce emissions while helping create a cleaner, more sustainable energy system.”
The Global Sustainability Awards recognise innovation, leadership and measurable impact across sustainability, celebrating organisations and individuals driving meaningful and lasting change.
The Bronze award follows a series of sustainability achievements for OurCoop and its partners, recognising the Society’s continued progress since its formation in January.
