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Green power: Woolies, Fortescue signal renewables shift
By Miki Perkins and Hamish Hastie
Australia’s largest retailer, the Woolworths Group, will power all its operations – including almost 3300 stores – with renewable energy by 2025.
The company, which says it uses 1 per cent of Australia’s electricity, will get energy from sources such as wind and solar through power purchase agreements and will expand its use of rooftop solar panels, which are currently installed on 150 stores and provide about 13 per cent of those sites' energy needs.
Woolworths will put more solar panels on its stores and distribution centres as part of the plan.
It is the latest in a series of Australian-based companies including ALDI, Bunnings, Officeworks and Telstra to set a strong renewable electricity target, and the move will put pressure on rival retailer Coles to follow suit.
Woolworths is Australia’s sixth-largest energy user. The top five are Rio Tinto, aluminium smelters Pechiney and Alcoa and gas producers QGC and Origin.
Chief executive Brad Banducci said a growing number of customers and shareholders expected the group to switch to renewables.
"We use around 1 per cent of Australia’s national electricity, so we have a unique opportunity to use our scale for good and make a real impact," he said.
A string of Australian-based companies have recently set strong renewable electricity targetsCredit: Peter Rae
Woolworths will invest tens of millions of dollars in renewable energy partnerships and green energy projects to spur growth in the sector, he said.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Lindsay Soutar said Woolworths' commitment was "vast".
"Using their abundant roof space for solar panels and sourcing the rest of their electricity needs from wind and solar farms in regional Australia will create new jobs and speed our transition to a renewable-powered grid."
Renewable energy was also a focus at the Fortescue Metals Group AGM in Perth on Wednesday, as Andrew Forrest revealed the company will enter the renewable energy market with the aim of producing it at the same scale and price as fossil fuel companies.
"After scientific and personal analysis of the renewable energy resources of our little planet I can assure you there is more than enough renewable energy to sustainably and economically supply every person on this planet from this time forth," he told shareholders via videolink from Paraguay.
The creation of the Fortescue Future Industries is a significant change in direction for FMG, which has become one of the ASX's most successful companies as it became one of the world's lowest cost producers of iron ore.
Energy analyst Nigel Morris, the head of business at Solar Analytics, a smart energy monitoring company, said renewable energy – whether from rooftops or power agreements – had come of age.
"[When] a big corporate [like Woolworths] comes out with an announcement like this it shows ... that renewables makes enormous sense," he said. "It’s good news for everyone."
As part of its green electricity push, the Woolworths Group has joined the RE100 initiative, which brings together influential global businesses committed to 100 per cent renewable power.
To date, 14 Australian companies with a combined market capitalisation of more than $470 billion have joined, said RE100 Australian co-ordinator Jon Dee.
A Coles spokesperson said that since 2009 the group has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 36.5 per cent. Initiatives in NSW and Queensland mean about 33 per cent of energy used by Coles will be renewable, they said.
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