Rotherham business plants more than 100,000 trees

The company has planted 109,000 trees across two sites in Northern Ireland and has now acquired land in Scotland as part of its green strategy.

AES initially worked on a 90-acre site in Fermanagh, and managing director Chris Rea said:”I am pleased to report that we purchased the second 40-acre plot in Ireland and that all 109,000 trees have been planted.

“We have also completed the purchase of 299 acres at Hardgatehead in Scotland. We have put in a planning application to plant mainly broadleaf trees as we are not doing this for commercial forestry, but as part of our commitment to invest £29 million by 2029 on environmental projects. The total investment on environmental projects is currently £16,487,167.80.

“Both the site at Aghnagrane in Northern Ireland and the site at Hardgatehead have peatland which has been drained and which we intend to restore. We will register around 50 acres with the Peatland Code as restored peatland is exceptional at sucking up CO2e.

“We are also considering a site that has trees planted on it, but it is a forestry business that we have no interest in. The reason we are considering it is that the remainder of the site has 750-acres of unplanted peatland, most of which could be restored.”

AES Engineering Group – the holding company of AESSEAL plc – put its environmental strategy together after the COP 26 United Nations climate change summit in 2021 and started to investigate land availability two years ago.

At the time of the announcement of the purchase of the initial plot in Fermanagh, Mr Rea said: “The site will be branded Betterworld Forestry to encourage growing membership of our philanthropic initiative to share environmental best practice and create a Betterworld for our children and grandchildren.

“There is not enough land in the world for trees to absorb all CO2e emissions, but it is an important part of the effort to reverse or to stop the accelerating damage to our planet. Trees are also beautiful.

“Our organisation is doing this because it is the right thing to do for the planet and because we are truth sayers. We committed to invest £29 million by 2029 on environmental projects and we will.”

The company is also carrying out work at its Mill Close base and Mr Rea added: “We are close to completing the conversion of our entire 175,000 square foot site on the Bradmarsh Industrial Estate to be entirely free of gas, as gas can never be green. We have done this through a combination of 3,000 solar panels, heat pumps and just as importantly, intelligent battery storage systems. The intelligent battery storage systems mean that we never draw any energy from the grid during peak energy usage time, leaving more energy for others and extending the time before increased grid capacity is required.”

The AES Engineering Group has also built and is operating a Betterworld Solar farm in India, and more information about its Betterworld Solutions policy can be found at www.aesseal.com