The Irish arm of discount retailer Lidl has completed the installation of solar panels at its Birr store adding a further investment of €130,000 in renewable energy.
The newly installed solar panels, which were supplied by Cavan-based Kingspan, will produce 120,000-kilowatt hours of energy from a sustainable resource annually.
This is enough to meet the electricity requirements of 28 homes and reduces the store’s carbon output by some 40 tonnes annually.
As a result, over 25% of Lidl’s energy requirements at its Birr store will be generated by solar power.
Sustainability Innovations
“Lidl is rooted in communities throughout Ireland and wants to ensure our business is operated in a way that is as sustainable as possible with the least impact possible on the environment,” Lidl Birr, Eamonn Fitzgerald Project Manager said.
Fitzgerald added that Lidl was “very clear” when building the Birr store that it would integrate the latest sustainability innovations that will generate energy savings.
In order to drive consumer awareness of sustainability is an important element of Lidl’s energy project, and the retailer has set up a display screen at the entrance of the store to inform customers how much energy has been generated and the amount of CO2 emissions saved.
“The newly installed solar panels will make a big impact in increasing our energy from sustainable resources by generating over 25% of our Birr store’s energy needs annually,” he explained.
This latest investment is just part of a range of sustainability initiatives being introduced by Lidl in the coming months.
In addition to the solar installations, Lidl is rolling out recycling bins in store to allow customers to leave unwanted packaging behind.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
