Bulgarian retailer Fantastico Group has announced an investment into a photovoltaic project that will enable the business to generate its own solar energy.
The project, which be implemented this year and next year, will see solar panels installed on the roofs of its larger facilities.
The total power of each photovoltaic system will be between 3,600 and 3,800 kWh, and combined, these will produce around 4.2 gigawatt hours of green energy per year – saving around 1,800 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
The first solar installation has been installed on the roof of the group's supermarket in Elin Pelin, near Sofia. Some €900,000 will be invested in the solar rollout.
'Develop A Sustainable Business'
"This is a strategic project for us," commented Svetoslav Gavrilov, chief executive of Fantastico Group. "It builds on our long-term efforts to develop a sustainable business.
"Investments in solar panels, which will provide our own green energy, are a natural course of being true to our belief that business must constantly evolve to ensure a better future for the next generation."
Read ESM's recent interview with Svetoslav Gavrilov here.
Refrigerated Logistics
In addition to the solar panel project, Fantastico is also set to invest €12 million in a logistics hub for refrigerated goods, which will boast a surface area of around 17,000 square metres.
This facility, which will also be located in Elin Pelin, will be located to the group's dry and ambient goods warehouse, and is due to be completed in 2023.
"The development of logistics is a prerequisite for continuing the expansion of Fantastico outside the capital city of Sofia," Gavrilov added.
Fantastico Group has also just commenced construction of a new supermarket in a residential district of Sofia, and is in the process of renovating some of its older stores.
At the end of 2021, the group opened its 45th outlet, in the town of Botevgrad (pictured), 60 kilometres northeast of Sofia, following a €7 million investment. It also opened a multi-use outlet in Pernik last year.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
