In sunny news, The Warehouse Group switches another 34
stores and sites across Auckland to solar energy, including
The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and the
Group’s Support Office.

This move follows the Groups
earlier announcement that saw 23 stores and sites enjoy the
power of the sun in February – now taking the total to 57
in the upper north Island.

The Warehouse Group’s
Chief Sustainability and Sourcing Officer Mark Anderton says
“lighting up stores with solar means cleaner energy and
less strain on our national grid.

“Building on our
first solar push in February, this latest upgrade is set to
slash our Scope 2 emissions by at least 1,000 tonnes of CO2e
every year – the equivalent of taking 200 cars off the
road each year.

“We’re not just cutting down on
emissions, but also contributing to the stability and
sustainability of New Zealand’s national grid by
increasing our solar energy capacity – which we’ve seen
under intense pressure recently as winter
arrives.

“More than 210 of our stores
and sites will switch to solar by 2026 and help us achieve
zero operational emissions by 2040. We’re in this for the
long term and are committed to making changes that benefit
everyone.

“While solar power
significantly reduces our carbon footprint, we’re also
making more sustainable choices for our entire supply chain
– from our packaging, the materials we make our products
with and the factories that make them, to how we move the
goods. Our broader sustainability strategy includes reducing
waste, rolling out recycling programs, and using more
environmentally friendly materials like Better Cotton,”
says Anderton.

The Warehouse Group have tapped into
Lodestones 50-hectare Edgecombe solar farm, Rangitaiki, to
fuel its 34 sites and stores.

Lodestone Energy’s
Managing Director Gary Holden says, “we’re excited to
see this milestone reached today, following the completion
of Rangitaiki in April this year. We believe that engaging
customers to be part of the solution is key to keeping the
energy transition moving forward and for keeping electricity
prices in check.

“With two farms completed, and our
third farm in Waiotahe on track to be generating by the end
of the year, we are pleased that Lodestone and The Warehouse
Group are joining forces at this critical time,” says
Holden.

Note:

In our initial announcement, The
Warehouse Group committed to transitioning more than 250
stores and sites to solar power by 2026. Please note that
this target has been updated to over 210 following the sale
of Torpedo7 in March 2024. This revised figure encompasses
the remaining The Warehouse Group stores, distribution
centres, and support offices.

Rangitaiki, boarders
the Rangitaiki river on the Edgecumbe plains. The farm
consists of nearly 60,000 solar panels supported by more
than 6,300 piles across an expansive area spanning 50
hectares. The site has a capacity of 32.4 MW and is expected
to produce approximately 54 GWh annually, which is enough
energy to power over 7,500 households.

The use of
renewable electricity certificates will ensure that
electricity consumed at our sites will be matched and
verified against solar electricity produced by Lodestone’s
solar farms. Working with a retail service provider,
Lodestone have also implemented market-leading metering and
billing techniques to enable Lodestone’s solar farm
production to offset the demand of The Warehouse Group’s
stores.

TWG stores and sites include:

© Scoop Media