Tesco Installs 3.2MW of Wind Turbines at Distribution Centers

Supermarket giant Tesco has installed four wind turbines with a capacity of nearly 1 MW, each at three of its grocery distribution centers.

The company installed two of the 90-meter, 800kW wind turbines at its Magor distribution center near Newport in Wales, BusinessGreen reports. The other turbines are at two sites near Daventry, in England’s Midlands.

The turbines will provide about a fifth of the energy needs of the Daventry distribution centers, and about half of the energy requirements of the Newport site. Tesco can sell any surplus power it generates to the national electricity grid.

Tesco said the turbines will prevent the emission of about 3,200 tons of CO2 every year.

The company is the U.K.’s biggest retailer, and has plans to go zero carbon by 2050. In contrast, rival the Co-Operative Group says it will go carbon neutral by 2012.

In January, Tesco said that it plans to install touch screen energy boards in employee areas in 500 stores across the U.K., to help staff use less energy.

Other Tesco initiatives include zero-carbon stores in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire in England, and in Welshpool, Wales, according to the company website and International Supermarket News.

Tesco’s American subsidiary Fresh & Easy has unveiled a number of environmental initiatives, including roof-mounted solar energy systems, LED lighting in freezer cases and external signs, recycling services for customers, and a LEED-rated store. The chain said its stores use 30 percent less energy than a typical supermarket.

Last September, Fresh & Easy introduced naturally-occurring CO2 refrigeration to one of its Southern California stores