![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Shoprite-solar-01.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nSouth Africa’s biggest retail group, Shoprite, has continued its rollout of rooftop solar in the country, and now has enough panels to collectively cover the equivalent of 24 soccer fields.<\/p>\n
The group said that it is continuing to expand its rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installations at various sites throughout the country, adding to the group\u2019s growing network of solar-powered and renewable electricity installations in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s current installed capacity of solar PV generates almost 50 million kWh annually with 174,534 square metres of solar panels across 71 sites – the equivalent of 24 soccer fields.<\/p>\n
“This is enough to power 4,554 households for a full year, easing pressure on the national electricity grid,” it said.<\/p>\n
The group said that it is aiming to power 25% of its operations with renewables in the next five years and to meet emission reduction targets, including net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n
“Renewable energy enables our stores to reduce our environmental impact, and in some cases, continue operating during power cuts,” said Sanjeev Raghubir, Group Sustainability Manager.<\/p>\n
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Shoprite and other retailers in South Africa have been hit with massive costs due to load shedding, with the group recording over half a billion rands’ worth of cost related to diesel spend just to keep operations going.<\/p>\n
Just in the last few months of 2022, two of the country\u2019s largest supermarket groups \u2013 Shoprite and Pick n Pay \u2013 spent a combined R906 million on diesel for generators at stores, with Woolworths adding another R90 million \u2013taking it up to a staggering R1 billion.<\/p>\n
More recently, retail group Dis-Chem reported spending another R90 million on diesel – while The Foschini Group attributed a loss of R1 billion (including diesel costs and losses due to lost trading hours) to load shedding.<\/p>\n
There has been wide push from retailers to mitigate these costs, including the rollout of solar in Shoprite’s case, and shifting operations to be less energy-intensive.<\/p>\n
Groups have also been pushing the government to extend diesel tax exemptions, currently only applicable to businesses operating in food production, to other businesses in the value chain – such as retailers.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Shoprite said it will continue to roll out more solar panels as part of its own operational needs.<\/p>\n
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Some of the new sites and generated kWh for each site:<\/p>\n
| Store<\/th>\n | Size (kWp)<\/th>\n | Annual generation (kWh)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|
| Shoprite Ceres, Western Cape<\/td>\n | 279 kWp<\/td>\n | 422 197 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Primrose, Gauteng<\/td>\n | 160 kWp<\/td>\n | 250 250 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Evander, Mpumalanga<\/td>\n | 292 kWp<\/td>\n | 519 900 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>\n | 270 kWp<\/td>\n | 409 252 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Harrismith, Free State<\/td>\n | 260 kWp<\/td>\n | 418 000 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Waverley, Gauteng<\/td>\n | 193 kWp<\/td>\n | 438 200 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Louis Trichardt, Limpopo<\/td>\n | 345 kWp<\/td>\n | 498 243 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Checkers Hyper Brookside, KwaZulu-Natal<\/td>\n | 661 kWp<\/td>\n | 921 381 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoprite Lenasia, Gauteng<\/td>\n | 265 kWp<\/td>\n | 440 600 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Checkers Hyper Drakenstein, Western Cape<\/td>\n | 648 kWp<\/td>\n | 1 003 694 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Freshmark Polokwane Distribution Centre, Limpopo<\/td>\n | 778 kWp<\/td>\n | 1 275 421 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Brackenfell Distribution Centre, Western Cape<\/td>\n | 631 kWp<\/td>\n | 1 021 751 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Basson Distribution Centre, Western Cape<\/td>\n | 1 750 kWp<\/td>\n | 2 730 000 kWh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n |