Dutch-Belgian multinational grocery retailer Ahold Delhaize has signed a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) in Europe to support its ambition to reduce emissions associated with electricity consumption to zero by 2035.

The new VPPA relates to a new-to-be-built onshore wind farm in Galaţi County in eastern Romania which is owned by HELLENiQ Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of HELLENiQ ENERGY Holdings.

Ahold Delhaize said the wind farm is projected to generate around 309 GWh of electricity annually, equivalent to the annual electricity usage of approximately 89,000 Romanian households.

The retailer will contract approximately 50 per cent of the wind farm’s output and will receive Guarantees of Origin, which are renewable energy certificates, for a period of 12 years.

The VPPA will deliver around 158,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy per year, which Ahold Delhaize said equates to approximately 10 per cent of its estimated electricity consumption for its European operations in 2030, including planned growth.

The project was developed and will be constructed by OX2 and is expected to be operational by 2027.

“We’re pleased to support the development of new renewable energy capacity in Romania through this long-term agreement,” said Frank Sluis, chief financial officer at Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia. “It also brings us another step closer to our net-zero carbon emissions goals in Europe, and we’re grateful to be working with partners who share our responsible energy solutions ambitions.”

The deal is Ahold Delhaize’s third Power Purchase Agreement and follows a direct Power Purchase Agreement in the Netherlands in 2023 and a VPPA in Spain in 2024.

Ahold Delhaize said these agreements form part of its wider efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its own operations (scope 1 and 2) by 2040 and strengthen its energy resilience.

In the UK, several grocery giants have started to install solar panels as part of their energy strategy including Co-op, which last month installed more than 6,500 solar panels at its largest regional distribution centre.

The solar panels installed at the 660,000sq ft depot in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, which serves over 600 across the south of England, are expected to generate around 2,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable energy each year to help power the depot’s operations.

In July, Aldi announced the rollout of solar panels across a further 90 stores as part of a £7.7 million investment.

The investment, which forms part of the company’s on-site renewable energy programme, will see the fourth largest supermarket install advanced 144 kWp solar systems across 41 stores before the end of 2025.

During the same month, Iceland Foods announced it will roll out rooftop solar systems across multiple sites within its retail estate.
The combined energy output of the multiple installations will be up to 10MWp, enough to power approximately 3,000 UK homes, and is expected to save 2,500 tonnes of CO2 annually.

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