Auchan Romania is accelerating the transition to green energy, with the objective of reducing store consumption by 40% and using 100% energy from renewable sources by 2030. The company aims to reach a level of 60% green energy in the consumption of 30 Auchan stores, ATAC and the headquarters, by the end of the year, through a mix of energy from existing photovoltaic panels and purchases made through Auchan Renewable Energy (ARE).
The transition to green energy comes in addition to a solid path that began in 2022, when, in the context of the energy crisis and in line with the strategy to decarbonize operations, Auchan Romania implemented a broad set of measures to reduce energy consumption. These actions led to a 20% decrease in energy consumption at the company level, through solutions with short and medium-term impact.
As part of this initiative, the retailer established Auchan Renewable Energy (ARE) at the beginning of 2023, a company that buys and supplies energy to Auchan locations. Currently, 30 Auchan and ATAC stores in 11 cities, as well as the head office in Bucharest, are powered by ARE, and by the end of the year 60% of the energy will come from renewable sources. Also, 16 of the stores already benefit from photovoltaic panels that in 2024 alone produced over 8 million kWh.
“The transition to renewable energy is a complex undertaking, supported both by the installation of photovoltaic panels in the grid and by the activity of our company, Auchan Renewable Energy, which ensures the trading of energy to Auchan locations. Together, these initiatives contribute significantly to reducing the company’s carbon footprint and increasing its energy autonomy. In the future, we plan to develop other projects, including the implementation of electric car charging stations,” said Cristian Drăghici, Director of Auchan Renewable Energy.
In 2024, Auchan Romania continued to implement strategic measures to reduce its environmental impact, with significant results in the area of energy consumption and emissions. Through integrated operational efficiency and logistics optimization actions, the company managed to reduce emissions generated by electricity consumption by over 50%, by 28% in the natural gas, fuel and refrigerants segment, as well as by 18% in emissions from the transport of goods.
Auchan Romania has a portfolio of over 470 stores, including 26 classic hypermarkets, 8 ATAC Hiper Discount hypermarkets, 9 supermarkets, the Auchan Go smart store, almost 400 MyAuchan ultra-proximity stores, most of which are in Petrom stations, over 40 Simply by Auchan franchise stores, as well as its online store. The company had a gross turnover in 2024 of over 1.7 billion euro.