SuperValu Castleisland champion environmental change in their stores and community as sustainability upgrades lead to significant energy savings
Upgrades result in energy equivalent of powering 81 houses for a year
24th July 2023: SuperValu Castleisland has joined forces with SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) to spearhead environmental change in the retail sector, demonstrating their commitment to energy reduction and sustainable business.
The Kerry store used the SEAI grant to upgrade their refrigeration and install solar panels, the results of which is the energy equivalent of powering 81 Irish houses per year. These new energy efficient upgrades, combined with previous works in store amount to 341,924 KWH of energy per year, a 59% overall carbon reduction for the store.
Seamus O’Connor, General Manager of SuperValu Castleisland said: “We are thrilled to once again participate in the ‘Building Sustainable Communities’ initiative with Musgrave and SEAI. Thanks to the grant we received, we have upgraded our refrigeration systems and installed solar panels which has resulted in a carbon reduction of 59%. We are proud to make our store more sustainable and we hope to continue implementing similar measures in future.”
SuperValu Castleisland is one of 25 stores nationwide who took part in the “Building Sustainable Communities” initiative this year, identifying and upgrading areas in their own operations which can be made to reduce energy energy costs, fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The the combined energy savings from these stores is 3.7 million KWH, enough to power 880 Irish homes.
The SEAI partnership complements Musgrave’s overall sustainability strategy and commitment to achieving a net zero carbon target by 2040.
In addition to this SuperValu are once again continuing their long-standing objective to bettering their surrounding local communities by nominating community buildings and clubs across the country to benefit from the scheme. For the first time, this year’s initiative also sees a contribution made to not-for-profit affordable housing charity Clúid Housing, supporting 40 Dublin based Clúid houses to raise their BER (Building Energy Certificate) rating from D2 to B2.
Through this initiative, SuperValu demonstrate their commitment to continue developing a sustainable Irish retail sector by reducing store energy costs, fossil fuel usage and zero carbon emissions. As well as this, SuperValu also cement their commitment to local communities across Ireland by making sustainability improvements to both local community organisations and affordable homes.
Tanya Osborne, CEG (Community Energy Grants) Programme Executive at SEAI said that SEAI’s mission is to highlight the importance of sustainable energy and celebrated the work achieved in collaboration with SuperValu through the years.
She said: “Creating a more sustainable society is at the core of everything we do at SEAI, and we firmly believe in the importance of working together to enact change. SEAI works with individuals, businesses and organisations across Ireland by providing grant support for much-needed energy upgrades.
‘Building Sustainable Communities’ closely aligns with our values and demonstrates the power of businesses and communities coming together. We are very grateful to SuperValu Castleisland for collaborating with us once again on this important initiative.”
SuperValu are part of the Musgrave Group, Ireland’s largest grocery and food distributors. With 220 stores throughout Ireland, SuperValu has served the people of Ireland for over 30 years and are deeply engrained in the roots of the Irish communities that they have stores. SuperValu maintains a reputation for quality, value, and friendly service, with stores in over 465 locations throughout the country.
To learn how you can make small changes with a big impact see www.supervalu.ie/about/sustainability, www.centra.ie, www.musgravemarketplace.ie
