Have you heard the sunny news out of Queensland? CleanCo renewable energy will be supplied across Queensland thanks to an innovative partnership between CleanCo and Coles powering local stores and households with affordable solar power. This is a historic agreement because sunshine means power “ON” in this case.
This goes back to 2020, when the two firms entered into a ten-year joint contract for CleanCo renewable energy. In the deal, more than 90 percent of Coles supermarkets in Queensland have been supplying their electricity from the renewable power of CleanCo since last July. Unknown to them, a bigger and bright venture was about to dawn.
Fast-forward to today. Solar farm at Western Downs is currently operational, making it the biggest power hub in Australia. This translates to about 400 megawatts of zero emissions energy coming directly from Central Queensland sunlight. With around a million solar panels to make such a farm. Furthermore, a high-tech Tesla battery is collecting more solar power while Coles is closed.
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CleanCo Renewable Energy; A Bright New Partnership for Renewable Energy in Queensland
So where does Coles come in? Thanks to the solar boost, CleanCo can supply 95% of the electricity keeping those freezers freezing and checkout counters buzzing at Coles stores across the state. That’s huge news not only for household budgets, but to reduce carbon emissions too.
The state manager for Coles, Jo Brown (Queensland) puts it simply as follows. “With the accomplishment of Australia’s largest solar panel installation and this ground-breaking collaboration, over 95% of Queensland’s electricity requirements are drawn from the power produced by Cleanco.
Finally, we would not fail to remember the trucks and vans transporting fresh food to Coles shelves everyday. Unfortunately, most of such delivery fleets are still running on fossil fuel and therefore do not have clean power from CleanCo. As more electric vehicles will be added to Coles fleet, they too will be shifted onto CleanCo’s solar power.
The fact CleanCo renewable energy can power over 97 Coles supermarkets is indeed something to make merry about. This is just one page of Australia’s solar success story. In this light, CleanCo and Coles could be at the forefront as partners towards a sunshine powered future not only in Queensland but across Australia.
