{"id":57405,"date":"2023-12-01T17:24:36","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T17:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-biggest-retailer-has-doubled-its-renewables-with-enough-solar-to-cover-26-soccer-fields"},"modified":"2023-12-01T17:32:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T17:32:23","slug":"south-africas-biggest-retailer-has-doubled-its-renewables-with-enough-solar-to-cover-26-soccer-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-biggest-retailer-has-doubled-its-renewables-with-enough-solar-to-cover-26-soccer-fields","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s biggest retailer has doubled its renewables \u2013 with enough solar to cover 26 soccer fields"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Shoprite Group has almost doubled the amount of renewable energy used in its operations to 103,234MWh (FY 2022: 54,138 MWh) over the past year.<\/p>\n

It achieved this by increasing the amount of renewable energy bought from landlords and other suppliers by 91%, it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also reduced electricity consumption by 161 million kWh through our LED lamp replacement project, and our network of solar-panel installations now covers the equivalent of more than 26 soccer fields,\u201d said the Shoprite Group\u2019s CSI & Sustainability Manager, Sanjeev Raghubir.<\/p>\n

The rooftop solar rollout has gone a long way in reducing the group\u2019s carbon footprint, Raghubir said, adding that the retailer\u2019s total solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities now generate enough clean energy to power nearly 4,800 homes for a year.<\/p>\n

The retailer\u2019s three-pronged approach includes reducing consumption, expanding its installed capacity of renewables and purchasing electricity in collaboration with independent power producers (IPPs).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve increased the amount of electricity we\u2019re buying from landlords and other suppliers by 91%. That\u2019s progress by any measure. The next step is wheeling: buying electricity from an IPP through the existing transmission network,\u201d Raghubir said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving that would be a massive step forward,\u201d he said, but added that this would require greater collaboration between various stakeholders to establish a national wheeling framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the interim, we will continue to improve energy efficiency wherever we can, and to this end, the Group has embarked on a refrigeration project. We\u2019ll also continue to install solar wherever its viable, whether on rooftops or carports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve set and are pursuing science-based targets to reduce our carbon emissions throughout our operations \u2013 in stores, distribution centres and transportation \u2013 with a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n

Massive load shedding costs<\/p>\n

Despite Shoprite\u2019s progress in turning to renewables, the group is still suffering heavily from ongoing load shedding and the wider power crisis.<\/p>\n

In November, the group revealed that it is spending close to R94 million a month on diesel to keep its operations going amid continued load shedding.<\/p>\n

In a voluntary trading update for the first quarter of its financial year (July to September 2023), the group said that its diesel bill for the three-month period had risen by R90 million to R281 million.<\/p>\n

The sharp increase in costs was attributed to the higher diesel price over the period relative to the same quarter last year.<\/p>\n

Reporting its full-year results for year ended June, Shoprite flagged a total diesel spend of R1.3 billion for the year to counteract the impact of load shedding.<\/p>\n

The R281 million spent in just Q1 is already more than that total spent in the 2022 full-year (R226 million) and equates to over R3 million a day.<\/p>\n\r\n