Iconic Australian hardware and garden store Bunnings announced this week that it has achieved its goal of powering its operations with 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Bunnings committed to source 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025 back in 2020 as part of its wider target to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
Since then, Bunnings has steadily built solar PV systems across its stores in Australia and made efficiency improvements in an effort to reduce energy use.
Announced on Monday, Bunnings revealed that it had achieved its 100 per cent renewable electricity milestone across its Australia and New Zealand store network.
All 452 Bunnings Group sites – including Bunnings stores, trade centres, distribution centres, store support locations, Tool Kit Depot stores, and Bunnings owned Beaumont Tiles stores – are now powered by renewable electricity.
On-site solar PV systems have been installed at 163 sites, generating 30 per cent of each stores total electricity needs, and Bunnings is planning to continue adding solar PV systems across its network of stores.
Filling out its electricity needs are power purchase agreements (PPAs) with large scale solar farms including agrivoltaics projects, wind farms, and hydro power stations – though these PPAs appear only to “match” consumption with generation, rather than directly supply electricity.
One such PPA was signed in early 2022 with Queensland’s publicly-owned energy generator and retailer CleanCo and Bunnings parent company Wesfarmers to provide renewable energy to a number of its major subsidiaries – Kmart, Target, Bunnings, and Officeworks.
The PPA would see power sourced primarily from the Western Downs Green Power Hub, one of Australia’s largest solar farms, and MacIntyre Wind Farm, one of the largest wind farms in the southern hemisphere.
At the time of the announcement, the CleanCo interim CEO, Darryl Rowell, said that the four companies were “contracted to take our energy and large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) to the end of 2030, while Bunnings is currently signed up to 2027.”
Bunnings has also signed PPAs with the 87 MW Tailem Bend 2 Solar Farm in South Australia and the 110 MW Sebastopol Solar Farm in New South Wales.
In its latest climate-related disclosures published in August 2024, Bunnings clarified that its procurement of renewable energy included “sourcing renewable electricity and associated large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) through power purchase agreements” and that “unbundled renewable energy certificates, including LGCs, will also be required.”
Bunnings is also trialling a handful of sustainability initiatives, such as a battery recycling program at all its stores and a plastic plant pot recycling initiative at selected stores, redirecting the huge numbers of plastic pots away from landfill. It is also trialling EV charging stations at selected sites in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, and New Zealand.
“In 2020, we announced our plans to source 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025 and our team has been working hard to ensure we delivered on this promise,” said Michael Schneider, Bunnings managing director.
“Each of our stores are different and operate in their own unique local community, but it’s great to see across our operations, we are able to deliver a positive outcome for our team, customers and the environment.
“We recognise our role as a business in reducing carbon emissions and the work doesn’t stop here. We look forward to continuing toward our next target of net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by the end of the decade.”
