Shoprite increases solar capacity in the midst of power crisis in South Africa

South Africa’s leading retailer Shoprite has announced an increase in its solar capacity by 82% in the last 12 months.

The company, Shoprite, said the increased capacity has eased the burden on the national electricity grid amidst the challenges facing the country as far as energy is concerned.

Shoprite released a statement at a time when South Africa faces one of its worst energy crisis saying over the past year, the food and household retailer 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,” Shoprite said in a statement as per IOL.

“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 Shoprite group, also operating in the Southern African region in countries such as Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe announced the use of renewable energy as 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 and these installations are now able to produce 40 894 MWh; 11 614 MWh more than in November last year.

In addition, the Cape Town-based company 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.”

Main Image: Shoprite Store/Wikipedia