Origin Energy partners with Coles to roll out solar across 100 stores

The innovative, jointly funded deal, will see 20MW of solar installed across 100 supermarkets and bottle shops over the next three years.

Origin Energy and Coles have partnered to install thousands of solar panels across 100 supermarkets and bottle shops. Picture: Bloomberg

Origin Energy and Coles have partnered to install thousands of solar panels across 100 supermarkets and bottle shops, in a deal that will allow the grocery giant to meet its sustainability goals and permit the energy giant to use excess electricity to prop up Australia’s grid.

The innovative, jointly funded deal, will see 20MW of solar installed across 100 supermarkets and bottle shops over the next three years. The partners will also install batteries to store excess electricity at a third of the 100 supermarkets and liquor shops.

Once complete, the solar panels are expected to provide each store with about 20 per cent of its energy needs and will be a key pillar in Coles’ goal of having 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025.

Jane Mansfield, head of energy at Coles, said the deal will help the retailer lower emissions, reduce electricity consumption from the grid and bring down operational costs.

“This alliance with Origin is an important step towards achieving our 100 per cent renewable electricity target by June 2025,” Ms Mansfield said.

“Not only will this investment in renewables help us reduce our emissions, it will also lower our operational costs and allow us to meet more of our energy needs from our own on-site solar generation.”

The deal could be expanded. Both companies declined to reveal the financial terms of the deal.

The innovative, jointly funded deal, will see 20MW of solar installed across 100 supermarkets and bottle shops over the next three years.

The deal will swell Origin Energy’s virtual power plant (VPP) offering, allowing Australia’s largest energy retail company to use excess electricity generated at the supermarkets to be dispatched when the country’s electricity grid is short of generation capacity or it needs stabilising.

A VPP pools thousands of households or businesses with rooftop solar and batteries. Batteries are used to store excess energy generated through rooftop solar. But if a user is deemed to have sufficient energy in their battery, it could be discharged into the wholesale market when prices are high, offering them a financial return and helping to ease the squeeze on the grid.

James Magill, executive general manager at Origin, said the deal was a landmark for both companies.

“This also marks Origin’s largest customer aggregation agreement providing frequency control ancillary services, allowing us to orchestrate 10MW of flexible energy use across heating, cooling and refrigeration assets at select Coles stores, which helps to support stable and safe operations of the grid,” said Mr Magill.

While the uptake of batteries remains stunted by high prices, Origin’s VPP is growing rapidly and it is now its biggest single unit generator of electricity.

Demand for batteries is expected to grow substantially in coming years as electricity prices increase and storage costs fall, and companies are competing aggressively for new customers with offers of zero per cent interest loans to spur greater uptake.