Albert Heijn and its fresh produce suppliers will use sustainable energy from Ecowende
Wednesday 29 May 2024
On Monday 27 May, Albert Heijn opened the new charging station at its distribution centre in Pijnacker. The supermarket has a total of 270 charging stations for 74 trucks and 250 vans in the Netherlands, making it the largest electric vehicle fleet in the country. Last year, Albert Heijn already drove 2.5 million kilometres with electric vehicles and will double this number by 2024. This puts the supermarket well on the way to achieving emission-free deliveries to all customers and stores in the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030. The supermarket is also the first European retailer to make sustainably generated energy available to strategic partners. And this is where Ecowende comes into play.
Rob Heesen, Director Business Development & Partnerships at Albert Heijn, said. “We are working intensively with partners to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and solve the challenges of the energy transition. With the climate goal of net zero by 2050 in the chain, from meadow to customer.”
Albert Heijn is the first European retailer to use sustainable energy throughout its chain
The supermarket chain has been (re)converting its own stores to gas-free since 2010: 95% are now gas-free. From 2021, Albert Heijn will only use Dutch wind energy. In addition to all these initiatives, all Albert Heijn partners will switch to green energy from 1 December 2023. This is an important step towards the goal of reducing CO2 by 45% compared to 2018 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Albert Heijn is also investing in its own energy production. This includes the now 50,000 solar panels on the roofs of distribution centres, Home Shop Centres and stores.
With wind energy from Ecowende
Achieving a completely CO2-free energy chain requires sourcing energy from new, sustainable sources. To achieve this, Albert Heijn is working on initiatives to reduce emissions in its own operations and those of its suppliers. This is why Albert Heijn is sourcing a large part of its future sustainable energy needs from the most ecological wind farm to date in the North Sea, Ecowende. Albert Heijn works together with Eneco, one of Ecowende's shareholders. This partnership between Eneco and Albert Heijn is now being expanded, making Albert Heijn the first European retailer to ensure that its fresh produce suppliers have access to this sustainably produced energy from the Ecowende wind farm.
