Ashley Lechman
Shoprite has increased its solar capacity by 82% in 12 months, easing pressure on the national electricity grid at a time when South Africa faces one of its worst energy crises.
Over the past year, Shoprite has raised installed capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to 26 606 kWp, it said yesterday.
The 143 674 square metres of solar panels at 62 sites is equivalent to the size of 20 soccer fields.
“This is enough to power the equivalent of 3 735 households for one full year, thus easing the pressure on the national electricity grid,” the company said in a statement.
“Despite the marked progress, the group is still focused on growing its solar-powered and renewable electricity installations while improving energy efficiency to reduce its environmental footprint, further reducing added strain on the national electricity grid. Other initiatives include a drive to reduce electricity consumption by installing LED lights at its sites, which has saved 399 million kWh to date.”
The group said the use of renewable energy was part of its plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.
In the last financial year, Shoprite increased its total renewable installations from 32 to 62.
These now produce 40 894 MWh; 11 614 MWh more than in November last year.
At the same time, the group has increased its fleet of solar-powered trailers by 234 to 1 041.
“We are incredibly proud of our increased use of renewable electricity, and we intend to build on this in the coming years to meet our science-based emission reduction targets, including net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Shoprite group sustainability manager Sanjeev Raghubir.
“Furthermore, we’ve saved more than R16 million in electricity costs in the past year through our solar PV systems and these additional savings are passed on to our customers.”