Nestle is the latest corporate giant to confirm that it is moving more firmly towards renewable energy with the news that it will be powering its UK and Ireland business via wind power in Scotland. The manufacturer has struck a deal with Community Windpower to commission a standalone development with nine wind turbines located in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Nestle ring-fenced farm will generate up to 125GW of clean energy annually, which the company will buy directly. This is the equivalent needed to power 30,000 typical homes, and Nestle is planning to have the development in operation by summer of next year.

The news follows a corporate announcement earlier this year that Nestle intended to use renewable power sources for all of its grid-based electricity needs, and it is now taking things further by directly investing in its own wind farm. The new development will generate clean additional energy and provide up to 50pc of Nestle's total energy needs.

Its sustainability agenda is likely to find favour with private customers and institutional investors alike, demonstrating a powerful CSR strategy which is increasingly being used to gain market share amongst informed consumers and stakeholder bodies.

Other companies are following suit, with Mars - the global food giant - announcing in May that its British business would become entirely powered by clean energy sources. Nestle is now looking at other ways to gather clean energy on their buildings and at their manufacturing facilities, with solar PV being a possibility.

Scotland is already a global player in clean wind energy and has around 25pc of Europe's offshore wind farms. Onshore wind developments are now the most common type of green energy found in Scotland and growth in the country's renewables sector is expected to continue in the next few years.