The Warehouse Group stores make historic switch to solar

It’s a little bit brighter today as the first 26 of The Warehouse Group’s stores and sites, including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo7, across Northland, Auckland and Waikato, are now enjoying the power of the sun.  

Today marks the Warehouse Group’s first step in their transition to solar, following the announcement of their agreement with Lodestone Energy, that will see more than 250 sites across Aotearoa New Zealand switch to solar energy plans by the end of 2026. 

The Warehouse Group’s Chief Executive Nick Grayston says “Going solar has been an important ambition for us to achieve across our store network. 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. This is a significant milestone and we’re delighted to mark the occasion at our Kaitaia store, with the community that has helped make it happen.  

“We estimate that today’s 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,” says Mr Grayston. 

To fuel its 26 sites and stores, The Warehouse Group have tapped into Lodestones new 64-hectare Kaitaia solar farm, where they will receive the benefit of 25% of the solar power it generates.   

Lodestone Energy’s Managing Director Gary Holden says that he shares the excitement for today’s launch, emphasizing the collaborative effort that made this milestone possible.  

"Completing the construction of our Kaitaia farm was a big feat, thanks to Te Rarawa Iwi, the local community, our construction partners, and the wider Lodestone Energy team,” says Mr Holden. 

To celebrate this sunny milestone, and thank the local community for their support, The Warehouse Kaitaia is today hosting a ‘Flick the Switch’ community event, where customers will enjoy a performance from a local group and some summer treats and giveaways.  

Lodestones Kaitaia solar farm has an AC capacity of 23.7 MW and is expected to produce approximately 55 GWh annually, which is enough energy to power over 7,770* households. (*based on the average annual consumption per household as published by figure.nz.)  

The use of renewable electricity certificates will ensure that electricity consumed at our sites will be matched and verified against solar electricity produced by Lodestone’s solar farms. Working with a retail service provider, Lodestone have also implemented market-leading metering and billing techniques to enable Lodestone’s solar farm production to offset the demand of The Warehouse Group’s stores. 

TWG Stores and sites include: 

The Warehouse Pukekohe, Manukau, Mt Roskill, Cambridge, Whitianga, Hillcrest, Te Kuiti, Matamata, Morrinsville, Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Tokoroa, Te Rapa, Dargaville, Kaikohe, Kaitaia, Waipapa and Whangarei.   

Warehouse Stationery SWAS Hamilton and Warehouse Stationery Pukekohe.  

Noel Leeming Te Rapa, Hamilton and Kaitaia.

Torpedo7 The Base, Hamilton, Rukuhia (DC) and Whangarei.