Finland's K Group has announced that it has achieved its energy efficiency targets four years ahead of schedule.
In 2017, the K Group committed to reducing its energy consumption by 7.5% by the year 2025. Data now shows that the retailer has achieved this goal.
Energy Efficiency Agreement
Matti Kalervo, Kesko’s vice president of corporate responsibility, said, "We have been able to achieve our target in advance thanks to the quick adoption of various technological innovations.
"Key tools in improving energy efficiency include modernising refrigerating equipment and lighting, our award-winning heat recycling system, and innovations such as utilising artificial intelligence in analysing a store’s energy consumption."
The target, set in 2017, was based on the retail sector Energy Efficiency Agreement. At the time, K Group aimed to save at least 79 GWh of energy by the year 2025 – a figure that corresponded to 7.5% of its energy consumption in 2015.
This was an ambitious target, as the group had already been actively working towards better energy efficiency for decades, publishing its first Energy Guide manual way back in 1982.
K Group now saves over 80 GWh of energy per year compared to 2015, which corresponds to the annual consumption of 100 K-Supermarket stores.
The company will continue to implement measures to improve its energy efficiency further, spurred on by the objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2025.
K-Citymarket Tammisto
The K-Citymarket Tammisto hypermarket in Vantaa was recently fully renovated, and is now an example of a store that employs all of the K Group’s energy saving tools.
In addition to hosting a solar power plant, modern refrigerating equipment, and the heat recycling system, the store employs a new lighting solution and an automation system analytics service.
Antti Kokkonen, building services manager at Kesko’s grocery trade division, said, "Updating the refrigeration system of K-Citymarket Tammisto to an energy-efficient system that utilises natural carbon dioxide refrigerant has a significant environmental impact.
"We will also save energy thanks to the energy-efficient heat recycling system: we expect the store’s district heat consumption to decrease by some 70% next winter."
Originally built in 2016, the solar power plant on the store’s rooftop has so far produced some 2,000 MWh of electricity, or an average of approximately 400 MWh per year.
All electricity used in the store has been renewable since 2017.
K-Citymarket Tammisto is also testing an advanced automation system analytics service and a new lighting solution, and positive results could lead to other K Group stores also adopting these solutions.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
