- Tesco announces ambition to install solar panels on 100 stores over next three years
- Initiative could generate as much as 20GWh of electricity, enough to charge the equivalent of 300,000 Tesco electric home delivery vans
- Project will help Tesco achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral across its own operations by 2035
Tesco has today announced ambitious plans to install solar panels on 100 of its large stores across the UK over the next three years – with the onsite power generation helping to manage increased electricity demand and higher energy costs.
The project will form part of a number of new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with renewables investors. Tesco has already launched a series of onsite and offsite PPAs to increase the amount of renewable electricity it can generate directly.
The project is underway, with the first store in Thetford fitted with more than 1,000 solar panels as part of a PPA with renewables investors, Atrato Onsite Energy. Four more stores will begin construction before the end of the year, generating an additional 2GWh of electricity.
The new project builds on the 40 Tesco stores that already have solar panels fitted – generating over 10.5GWh of solar electricity in the last year, equivalent to 3,800 homes.
With initiatives such as air source heat pumps used to replace gas heating boilers, customer EV charge points, and electric dotcom home delivery vans, the need for renewable electricity has never been more important.
Onsite renewables like solar panels take pressure off the wider national grid infrastructure, and the much-needed renewable energy that will be generated by this programme will drive progress towards Tesco’s commitment to become carbon neutral across its own operations by 2035.
Long-term PPAs are central to sourcing renewable electricity, guaranteeing procurement typically over a 20-year period.
Tesco met its 2030 ambition to switch to 100% renewable electricity in its own operations across the Tesco Group ten years early, through a mixture of direct sourcing and renewable certificates. The retailer is now acting to ensure the majority of this renewable electricity comes from direct sourcing.
Ken Murphy, Group CEO said: As we all face into the effects of climate change, scaling up our use of clean renewable energy has never been more important. That’s why we are continuing our work to source green electricity from our own estate, setting out ambitious plans to install solar panels on the roofs of 100 of our large stores across the UK over the next three years – moving us further towards our target to be carbon neutral in our own operations by 2035.”
Gurpreet Gujral, Managing Director at Atrato Partners, who are installing solar panels at Tesco’s Thetford store said: “Tesco has made impressive progress in its ambitious journey towards net zero, and we are proud to be working together to deliver the next phase of a solar rollout across their portfolio of supermarkets. As the UK’s leading food retailer, Tesco’s adoption of onsite solar will have a significant impact on emissions, and we look forward to supporting the business over the coming years to bring clean, traceable energy to more sites up and down the country.”
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