Last year, Woolworths Limited announced that due to the ACT’s generous gross feed in tariff system, the company had selected Canberra as its first location nationwide for the installation of renewable energy generation technology.
Woolworths Limited Director of Corporate and Public Affairs, Andrew Hall, said at the time, “If all States followed the ACT’s lead and introduced gross feed-in tariffs that benefited businesses; Woolworths would certainly look at rolling out this exciting new technology to locations nationwide, potentially pumping significant amounts of clean electricity back into the grid.”
“Retailers often have expansive roof spaces that should be perfect for capturing the sun’s rays, a clean resource Australia has in abundance.” said Mr. Hall
Solar panels were to be installed on the canopy of Woolworths petrol stations in Belconnen and Hume, generating approximately 15% of each site’s energy needs and potentially enough for lighting and bowser operation. Woolworths has announced the first 30kW system has been installed at a Belconnen service station and was switched on today.
Woolworths’ investment in renewable technology is part of the company’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint on projected growth by 40 percent by 2015 maintaining 2006 levels.
While Woolworths may be the first major retail chain in Australia to have switched on to solar power, it’s not the first company tied to a well known supermarket brand to have done so.
Earlier this year, national solar power solutions provider Energy Matters installed a grid connected solar electricity system at the Renaissance Supa IGA supermarket in Hawthorn, Victoria.
