Home, leisure, and garden retailer The Range has partnered with InRange to ensure the solar panel deployment on its warehouses across the UK not only provides renewable energy for its own buildings – but it also helps to provide energy for the wider market.
InRange – which describes itself as an enterprise renewable energy marketplace – has helped The Range accelerate the installation of solar panels across its 4.2 million sq ft of warehouse space in the UK. But the tie-up also means it can sell surplus renewable energy generated from the panels to other large energy buyers.
In short, the partnership means The Range is turning its retail warehouses into ‘distributed power plants’ that will slash the retailer’s own energy bills, while connecting others looking for renewable energy with a new energy asset supplier.
The Range has over 200 stores across the UK and continues to open new sites across the country. It said it is committed to reducing its operational carbon footprint while hedging against the volatile energy market.
According to the retailer, its renewable energy strategy could shrink electricity bills across its portfolio by at least 25%.
Alex Simpkin, CEO at The Range, said: “We’re on a journey to become a net zero business.
InRange’s technology automates the entire energy procurement workflow. It claims to be disrupting the industry’s traditional ‘generate only what the tenant needs’ approach to renewable energy projects – primarily by up-sizing solar installations at its partners’ sites.
John Mushriqui, CEO of InRange, commented: “We’re excited to work with The Range, empowering them to achieve their financial, economic, and environmental targets.
“It’s refreshing to see one of the UK’s largest retailers have the ambition to leverage their buildings as a retail energy network. It’s our mission to accelerate the roll out of on-site generation to their portfolio and achieve their ambitions.”
Read more about retailer solar power initiatives on Green Retail World
[Main image credit: The Range/InRange]
