Germany's Das Futterhaus inks solar PPA to power group sites

Germany's Das Futterhaus is powering its stores with electricity from a 5-MWp solar park in the state of Schleswig-Holstein that the pet food retailer is procuring under a five-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Das Futterhaus will off-take 3.9 GWh of green electricity per year from the Bokel solar plant operated by Sunnic Lighthouse GmbH, a subsidiary of German renewables operator Enerparc AG. The contracted electricity is enough to cover 70% of the electricity consumption of the group.

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The PPA was signed between Sunnic and EHA Energie-HandelsGesellschaft which serves as the energy service provider for Das Futterhaus. The contract has been running since January and has an option for a three-year extension.

The Bokel site was built by Enerparc and does not receive state subsidies.

Purchasing green electricity from a local solar park in northern Germany is a further step in the sustainability strategy of the pet food retailer, said Lutz Sommer, Head of Environment & Energy at Das Futterhaus. The photovoltaic system generates electricity exactly when the group needs power to operate its stores, thus supplying green electricity at stable prices in the long term, Sommer added.

Das Futterhaus offers pet food and accessories for cats, dogs, birds, fish, reptiles and rodents and has a network of more than 400 stores in Germany and Austria.