Aldi Australia has announced it will use 100 per cent renewable energy across its Australian operations by the end of 2021. Its commitment comes after it achieved a 40 per cent reduction in overall operational emissions from its 2012 baseline.
Aldi currently has 555 stores and eight distribution centres and is the 64th biggest user of electricity in Australia.
A solar installation program and the recent procurement of two ten-year Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs) with large scale wind farms will make the commitment possible, the company said.
The wind farms, located in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands and Western Victoria, will provide renewable energy to all of Aldi’s New South Wales and Victorian stores. They will generate more than 180,000 MWh of electricity and result in around 160,000 tonnes of carbon emissions avoided each year.
Rooftops of Aldi’s real estate portfolio will harness more than 15 per cent of its total energy use from the sun.
By the end of 2020, more than 250 of Aldi Australia’s stores and six distribution centres will have solar installations totalling 102,000 panels of onsite solar energy generation. It equals 41,000 tonnes of carbon emissions not entering the atmosphere every year.
It is the equivalent of taking 11,700 cars off the road per year or generating enough electricity to power 7,000 average Australian homes.
CEO Tom Daunt said the commitment to use only renewables is just one of many milestones the company has set on its goal to zero carbon emissions.
The businesses’ shift to renewable energy sources should provide clear evidence to Australia’s top energy users that renewable alternatives are affordable when factored into long term planning, he said. But the company was the first to admit it still has trucks on the road and an extensive supply chain that relies on fossil fuels.
Daunt said: “We will continue to work within our business and closely with our business partners to reduce emissions and preference renewable sources of energy.”
Aldi Australia’s commitment is part of the copmany’s global commitment to climate protection targets endorsed by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
SBTi took a close look at Aldi’s international targets and validated them based on scientific criteria agreed by CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The PPAs will be administered by RATCH, located in the NSW Southern Tablelands and Tilt Renewables, located in West Victoria.
