Supermarket giant installs 3.5MW solar system on roof of new facility – pv magazine Australia

August 7, 2024 Eva Foley

A 3.5MW commercial solar system has been installed on the roof of a new automated distribution centre (ADC) built by supermarket retail giant Coles Group.

The next step towards achieving its goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2025 is the installation of a 3.5-megawatt rooftop solar system at ADC’s ​​Kemps Creek facility in Western Sydney, part of the company’s $1 billion ($66 million) investment in efficiency improvements.

The 66,000-square-metre facility, located 40 kilometres from Sydney, is equipped with automated technology to process four million cartons a week for 229 stores across New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The solar panels represent one of the largest rooftop solar solutions at Coles and follow the first ADC built in Queensland in 2023 at the Goodman Redbank Motorway Estate, which also had a 3.5MW rooftop solar system installed.

Coles Group CEO Leah Weckert said the opening of its second solar-powered distribution centre marked a significant milestone in the company’s journey to improve its supply chain and increase operational efficiency.

Coles has signed a three-year agreement with Australian retailer Origin Energy to co-invest in solar panels, batteries and flexible load control across its stores across the country.

Three additional solar systems are expected to come online in 2024 and 2025, including a 300 kWV/420 MWh system at a Chef Fresh facility in New South Wales and two large systems at refrigerated distribution centres in Western Australia and New South Wales.

By mid-2023, 88 Coles supermarkets had installed solar panels, generating 12,720MWh of renewable energy, while its Oakdale dry goods distribution centre, 90 kilometres southwest of Sydney, had installed a 3.5MW system consisting of 7000 solar panels, providing 32% of the facility’s electricity.

The Coles Group has entered into long-term large-scale power generation certificate agreements with renewable energy developers Neoen and Engie based in France, Acciona Energia based in Spain and Origin Energy, sourcing power from solar and wind farms in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

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