Retail Chain Switches to Green-sourced Electricity in 98 Shops in the Kanto Area

Yamada Denki Co., a major Japanese mass retailer of consumer electronics, announced on December 13, 2007, that it had concluded a contract with Summit Energy Co. (part of the Sumitomo Corp. Group), a power producer and supplier (PPS) of green-sourced electricity. Under the contract, Summit Energy is to provide eco-friendly electricity to Yamada Denki along with a Green Power Certificate to confirm its environmental value. Up to now, certificates have been sold to companies in Japan that want to ensure they are getting electricity from green sources, but this is the first time to introduce a direct demand power supply contract combined with a certificate.

A green PPS provides electricity generated from wind, hydro, and biomass renewable energy sources, and delivers it through power lines owned by electricity companies to customers purchasing more than 50 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. The green power is sold in two ways: one is to directly provide green electricity; the other is to provide it in sets with regular electricity and the Green Power Certificate. Yamada Denki bought both a set amount of electricity and a certificate from a wood biomass power plant.

Yamada Denki uses 3.6 million kWh annually at its 98 shops in the Kanto area, and it started using the green-sourced power January 1, 2008. As the largest effort in Japan's retail industry so far, the company estimates that the switch will result in a reduction of about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, equivalent to the amount absorbed by 150,000 cedar trees.

http://www.yamada-denki.jp/company_e/index.html

Posted: 2008/04/12 05:16:19 PM