The Range transforms warehouses into power plants

Plans have been outlined by retailer The Range to turn its retail warehouses into distributed power plants.

The move will enable the firm to slash its bills and connect large energy buyers with a new asset supplier, in an initiative it hopes will generate more than 40MW of distributed renewable energy.

It comes as the retailer, which has more than 200 stores across the country, is looking to reduce its operational carbon footprint, while hedging against a volatile energy market.

The Range identified the opportunity held by its more than 4.2 million sqft of warehouse space, beyond just on-site generation for self-consumption, and realised the surplus capacity generated from each of their warehouses could supply large energy buyers and other The Range sites that have unmet energy needs.

According to the firm, the strategy could shrink electricity bills across the portfolio by at least 25% and assist in its own carbon reduction targets.

Joining forces with the InRange network, a managed marketplace for enterprise renewable energy procurement has also accelerated the deployment of solar on The Range’s buildings. 

Alex Simpkin, The Range CEO said:

“We’re on a journey to become a ‘Net Zero’ business. Our partnership with InRange is a real demonstration of our commitment and has really sped up our efforts meaning we can already see immediate benefits for both us as a business and as a positive impact on our local communities.

InRange has made it simple for The Range by automating the entire energy procurement workflow. As a result, their first site generated electrons within 8 months. InRange disrupted every facet of the energy enablement journey, slashing time and costs across the board by at least 25%.

John Mushriqui, CEO of InRange said:

“It’s refreshing to see one of the UK’s largest retailers have the ambition to leverage their buildings as a retail energy network.

“It’s our mission to accelerate the roll out of on-site generation to their portfolio and achieve their ambitions.”

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