Australia’s retail sector has made the biggest commitments to renewable electricity in 2020, Greenpeace Australia’s REenergise 2020 Corporate Renewable Snapshot finds. Major retailers made power purchase agreements worth almost 2GW of wind and solar – enough to power nearly 800,000 Aussie households – and created 3,407 new jobs along the way.
According to the Greenpeace report, corporate commitments will increase the demand for renewable energy projects to an estimated 2.8GW, and create 5041 new jobs, over the course of five years.
Four big Aussie retailers including ALDI, Woolworths, Bunnings and Officeworks are driving the shift to renewables in Australia, largely in part due to their 100% renewables commitment.
Woolworths, Australia’s 6th largest electricity user, announced its plan to go 100% renewable by 2025. , ALDI – which has already signed two deals with wind farms in NSW and Victoria – is set to complete the same transition by 2021.
Coles, the only major Australian supermarket chain that has yet to commit to a 100% renewable energy target, has recently signed two major power purchase agreements with state-owned generator and retailer Cleanco. With the QLD deal, Coles is set to provision locally-generated wind and solar to power 90% of its Queensland operations.
Currently, 28 of Australia’s biggest electricity users have already made the same 100% renewables commitments.
“Australian companies made a huge leap forward on the switch to 100% renewable electricity in 2020, with clear energy commitments by major Australian businesses now set to create solar and wind power equivalent to powering all the homes in Brisbane and Perth combined,” Greenpeace Australia’s REenergise Campaign Director Lindsay Soutar said.
Second in the renewables race is the Australian telecommunications sector, driven by Telstra’s 100% renewable by 2025 commitment.
More than half of the 2.8GW demand has already been achieved thanks to commitments by major electricity users Woolworths and Telstra in 2020.
Why make the switch?
According to Greenpeace, purchasing renewable energy can help Aussie companies save money and manage price volatility.
“Companies can save up to 15-47% of energy costs by purchasing renewable energy via a corporate power purchase agreement,” the report said.
As more Australians are demanding that Australian companies be proactive with the issue of climate change, making the switch may also help companies gain popularity among consumers.
The Greenpeace report found that 71% percent of Australians think that Aussie companies should set a 100% renewables goal.
68% said that they would prefer working for a company that was buying renewable energy, while over two-thirds of respondents said they were more likely to make a purchase from a company fully committed to renewable energy.
