Renewable energy for a sustainable future
The most sustainable energy is the energy we do not consume. Besides reducing our energy consumption, we are fully focusing on its green character. Because where energy comes from plays a major role. When energy is generated from fossil fuels, CO₂ is released and causes global warming. Generating green energy from renewable sources causes hardly any air pollution or CO₂ emissions and, on top of that, never runs out.
You can read exactly what we mean by energy in our definitions.
How does Colruyt Group deal with energy sustainably?
1 Less energy consumption
- Through infrastructure and techniques: e.g. energy-saving renovations, heat recovery, heat pumps and low-energy shops.
- We raise the awareness of our employees to tackle small losses linked to use and maintenance.
- Through the products in our range: together with our suppliers, we want to look at how we can reduce the energy consumption in our value chains.
2 Opting for renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy from renewable energy sources such as wind, sun or water. The major advantage of renewable energy is that it hardly releases any greenhouse gases such as CO₂ or other pollutants when generating energy. This makes it ideal to combat air pollution and global warming.
- The energy we consume comes, when possible, from renewable sources. Our electricity consumption is virtually 100% green electricity.
- We produce our own green power from solar energy and invest in wind energy through Virya Energy.
- Through the products in our range: together with our suppliers, we want to look at how we can reduce the energy consumption in our value chains.
- By means of cooperatives and investments in renewable energy, we want to help increase social support for the sustainable energy transition.
3 Using energy smartly
- Aligning energy production and the consumption: we shift our consumption where possible to times when the production of green electricity is high.
- Smart grids: through smart grids we automatically control our installations based on the amount of energy available, energy prices, weather data, user variables and technical parameters.
- Flexible energy consumption: we have mapped out which devices we can turn off, how often and for how long. Electrical charging is done at night where possible, as is the production of hydrogen and liquid ice.
- Energy storage in hydrogen and batteries in case of overproduction of solar and wind energy. We are also committed to helping realise the social transition in this field.
Our objectives and initiatives
- Renewable energy
- Prevention and reduction of energy consumption
- Using energy smartly
