Carrefour committed to cutting electricity at its stores

01 / 08 / 2022

• CSR
• news

The Carrefour Group is committed to cutting electricity at its stores, therefore it has teamed up with EcoWatt – the “electricity weather forecasting service” developed by RTE (France’s electrical transmission operator), with the support of France’s energy and environmental management agency (ADEME).

Carrefour is pledging to reduce or postpone its stores’ electricity consumption during periods when there is significant strain on the electricity grid (red warning). In so doing, it will reduce electricity consumption in France and is the first retailer to sign up to such a scheme.

To help secure everybody’s electricity supply, Carrefour has joined the other members of the EcoWatt charter, a scheme which provides information in real time about the quantities of electricity available to supply French consumers. It provides private individuals, companies and communities with guidance so they can get into eco-friendly habits designed to limit electricity consumption during peak times.

A warning system gives information about which times and days people should reduce or postpone their electricity consumption. That way outages can be avoided, or at least their duration can be reduced.

Carrefour is therefore committing – via its four priority company initiatives – to encouraging the use of a more responsible form of electricity, as well as reducing its own ad hoc energy consumption during peak times. It might, for example, lower the lighting in its stores and reduce the heating – that would reduce power by between 2.1 MW and 10 MW. Or it could make its own production capabilities available, which represent more than 60 MW of electrical power. And customers will be told when the scheme is triggered.

EcoWatt was widely deployed in 2020 and now has nearly 50 partner local authorities signed up to it. Against a backdrop of rising concerns over the security of our energy supply, it has the support of a number of major companies. It is open to anyone – private individuals, as well as companies, communities and associations – wishing to be part of this scheme and help bring about a more responsible form of consumption.

“Through their concrete and responsible commitments to reduce energy consumption at the right time, and by getting their employees involved, companies in France have a key role to play in ensuring that everybody across the country has access to electricity this winter,” said Xavier Piechaczyk, Chairman of RTE’s Management Board.

“Carrefour’s aim is simple: be in a position to reduce its stores’, warehouses’ and shopping centers’ electricity consumption as much as possible when warnings are issued, and fulfill our duty to lead by example. Given how many stores we have and the role that we play in our sector, engaging with thousands of suppliers and millions of customers, we want to be part of the national effort and show that we can, by doing lots of little and big things, as a company, but also on our own, make a difference,” Alexandre Bompard, CEO of the Carrefour Group, said.