Stores to use renewable energy from 2022

Shopping Behemoth has pledged to use renewable energy to provide electricity to more than 90 percent of its sites across the state from July 2022.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Linham said wind and solar power from South Towns and Western Towns in Queensland would supply electricity to most stores across the state under a new agreement signed with government-owned Kleinco.

Dr Linham said the agreement would play a key role in the state’s economic recovery from the Goin-19 epidemic, promising Queensland’s project of “affordable, reliable energy supply”.

Cole CEO Steven Cain said it would help Coles’ commitment to becoming “the most sustainable supermarket” and “make a significant contribution to the development of renewable energy supplies in Australia”.

“We have already made changes throughout our business to make more efficient use of energy, which has helped us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 36.5 percent since 2009, while growing our team member base and store network,” he said.

To provide power, Clinko will buy 400 MW of new renewable energy from ACCIONA’s McIntyre wind farm and build a 102 MW wind farm in nearby Carrara.

As Klein Co expands its energy production, the deal is expected to create employment boom in renewable energy for the state.

In 2019, Coles made a similar deal in New South Wales, where more than 70 percent of the electricity generated by the three solar power plants will be built outside the regional centers of Wanga, Wagga, Korova and June.

The electricity generated by the deal is expected to be equivalent to 10 percent of Cole’s national electricity consumption. The contract will create 240 jobs in the construction of factories and 10 jobs after construction.