Officeworks Warana first to install battery to run renewable energy

The Officeworks Warana shopfront will be looking glamorous in green in order to celebrate an important milestone as part of their journey towards statewide net-zero emissions.

An Australian first has been launched on the Sunshine Coast with major retailer Officeworks ‘going green’ for one of its flagship coastal stores.

Officeworks Warana will become the first of the brand’s sites to be powered by a battery after upgrading from 80kW to 100kW solar panels and installing a 100kWh lithium battery.

The solar and battery set-up is capable of powering 70 per cent of the store, and the remaining 30 per cent will be procured sustainably by their partnership with CleanCo Queensland, effective by 2025.

The store’s logo will even go green for about a month to mark the initiative.

The benefit of the lithium battery allows excess solar energy produced during the day to be stored until it is needed when sun is down but the store is still operating.

Additional solar panels have been installed on the roof of Officeworks Warana to reduce carbon footprint.

The 100 kWh lithium battery was installed to store excess energy generated by the roof solar panels to power the facilities when the sun is not out.

This is part of the company’s plan to have all Queensland stores run completely on renewable energy by 2025 and have net-zero emissions by 2030, in order to take “meaningful climate action” and support sustainable shoppers.

Officeworks chief financial officer Brendan Hargreaves said they were proud of being able to deliver something that was good for people and the planet while also making good business sense.

Officeworks staff from around Queensland and other special guests attended the sustainability tour at the Warana store.

“By investing in sustainability and reducing our energy consumption, we can reduce our carbon footprint while keeping prices low for our customers,” he said.

Officeworks Warana store manager Cam Foreman said they were very excited to be the first store going green and the month of work and various power shutdowns are worth the end result.

He said the project made “great sense” and it was a number one priority to help the environment, particularly climate change.

“This is definitely a step in the right direction and businesses need to get into this space,” Mr Foreman said.

Officeworks Warana store manager Cam Foreman wore a green polo provided for staff for wear for the next month in celebration.

Mr Foreman was excited to have Sunshine Coast businesses see Officeworks’ greener initiative in hopes they will opt in on more renewable energy solutions as well.

Officeworks energy and carbon manager Patrick Heagney said the Warana store was capable of using the 100 per cent, but many Officeworks premises already use “onsite generation and renewable electricity procurement” whenever possible.

The Warana store stretching 1722sq m has been working towards sustainability for the past two years, previously installing upgraded LED lights, an energy management system, thermal roof coating and double insulation.

Queensland Conservation Council spokeswoman Nicky Moffat visited the Warana store on Tuesday and said the store proved a 100 per cent renewable future was attainable.

“We have seen welcome investment from the Queensland Government but need to accelerate the build of renewable energy and a storage at a state scale to replicate what we see here,” Ms Moffat said.

“Households and businesses taking these steps to produce and manage their own energy is crucial for the renewable energy transition, but a lot of people don’t have enough money upfront or face barriers, like they’re renting their home or office space, which means they can’t install renewable energy and storage. “