Supermarket giant Coles has powered forward in the retailer race to renewables in its commitment to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific has welcomed the announcement, which will see Coles, one of Australia’s biggest energy users, responsible for 1% of the country’s total electricity consumption, also commit to 75% emissions reduction for Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2030.
REenergise campaign director Lindsay Soutar, from Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said Coles’ commitment to clean energy has far-reaching implications.
“Coles making the clean energy switch will put a big dent in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, inspiring confidence in towns and cities across the country that even the biggest and most complex businesses can run on renewable energy,” she said.
“All three of Australia’s biggest supermarkets have now committed to 100% clean electricity, meaning the goods and services Australians use every day will soon be brought to us by the wind and sun.
“The momentum behind Australia’s business energy transition is undeniable, as company after company commits to 100% renewable electricity, and concrete action from companies like Coles puts them in front of the pack. Australian businesses have so far committed to enough renewable energy to power 1.6 million homes – that’s almost every house in Sydney.”
In 2019 Coles became the first major retailer to sign a power purchase deal, sourcing 10% of their electricity from three solar farms in regional NSW. In 2020 they announced a deal to source a further 20% of their power through wind and solar projects via Queensland’s renewable energy retailer CleanCo. Now they have announced a further power purchase from Lal-Lal windfarm, near Ballarat in Victoria.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific is now calling on Coles to sign up to the global RE100 program, the international alliance of the world’s most influential businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.