Commercial, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables - May 8, 2023
Loblaw to Reduce Emissions with 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy
Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) announced a carbon-free energy project that will power its supermarkets, drugstores, offices, and distribution centers in Alberta with electricity entirely sourced from wind, sun, and water.
The first of its kind in Canada, this program will eliminate carbon emissions associated with the company’s electricity purchases in Alberta, while reducing nationwide operating emissions by 17%.
The program is expected to help the company achieve its net zero goal, with its use of carbon-free electricity servicing over 280 locations. It will generate over 300,000-megawatt hours of carbon-free energy every year, saving the equivalent of up to 180,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
"Loblaw has been actively reducing its carbon emissions for over a decade, consistently exceeding its own ambitious targets. Last year, when we raised those targets to become net zero by 2040, we knew we would need some breakthrough innovation to reach our goal,” said Galen G. Weston, Chairman and President at Loblaw Companies Limited, in a statement. “This project delivers that by turning our highest carbon-emitting energy market into our lowest, in one single step. Today's announcement is a powerful example of private industry working together to bring scaled change to the energy transition."
Loblaw signed the deal with TC Energy, a North American energy company that created Alberta’s first product that makes carbon-free energy available round-the-clock.
This product addresses the renewable energy intermittency challenge: how to produce energy when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine. It generates carbon-free energy from solar panels and wind turbines and delivers it to Alberta’s electrical grid that connects to Loblaw stores. When wind and solar power are not available, a pumped-hydro energy storage station circulates water up- and down-hill to store and generate carbon-free power.
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