Leroy Merlin hypermarket in Russia to go solar

The Russian division of French home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin will have a 600-kW solar array installed on the site of a hypermarket in Volzhsky, Volgograd Region.

Vershina Group, whose unit Solar Craft LLC was tasked with carrying out this project, said today that construction work has already begun. The photovoltaic (PV) system is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2022, Vershina Group’s board chairman Pavel Shevchenko said in a statement.

The project is being implemented under the power purchase agreement (PPA) scheme on market terms. It is being funded by Vershina in cooperation with Austrian investors.

Leroy Merlin has set an objective of switching to 100% renewable electricity within five years in order to lower its carbon footprint in the period 2021-2025. According to the announcement, the company is considering similar solar projects in other cities in southern Russia.

The installation in Volzhsky is estimated to cover about 30% of the annual power consumption of that hypermarket.

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