The farm produces about 55 gigawatt hours annually, with The WarehouseGroup receiving 25 per cent of that power for its stores.
The Warehouse Whitianga and 14 other Waikato-based stores were the first batch to have transitioned to solar power - by the end of 2026, the Warehouse Group hoped to have more than 250 stores using that renewable energy source.
The Group’s chief executive Nick Grayston, said going solar had been important to the group.
Warehouse Group CEO Nick Grayston. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
“We challenge ourselves with something we call The Tomorrow Test which helps us take action to make improvements in both big and little ways, to be a more sustainable business.
“We estimate that [the] switch will reduce our Scope 2 emissions by at least 808 tonnes of CO2e a year, the equivalent of taking 175 passenger vehicles off the road yearly and steers us towards our goal of zero emissions in our operations by 2040.”
The Warehouse Group, founded by Sir Stephen Tindall in 1982, has grown from one store to New Zealand’s largest general merchandise retailer.
Its brands include The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7, and TheMarket.
The first Warehouse Group stores powered by solar energy are: The Warehouse in Pukekohe, Manukau, Mt Roskill, Cambridge, Hillcrest, Te Kuiti, Matamata, Morrinsville, Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Whitianga, Kaitaia, Tokoroa, Te Rapa, Dargaville, Kaikohe, Waipapa and Whangarei, as well as Noel Leeming Te Rapa, Hamilton and Kaitaia, additionally to Torpedo7 at The Base, Rukuhia and Whangarei, and The Warehouse Stationary Hamilton and Pukekohe.
