Under the proposed projects, the company will finance and own the solar energy and wind turbine systems. Power generated will be returned to the electrical grid under Ontario’s feed-in tariff program for renewable energy. Walmart Canada will use these pilot projects to assess the effectiveness of these systems to power some of its stores in future.
Once complete, the rooftop solar power generating system is expected to generate 450,000kWh of energy per year. The solar system will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 80 tonnes per year, the company said.
Walmart Canada plans to install a 20kW wind turbine adjacent to one of its Ontario stores. The system is expected to generate as much as 50,000kWh of electricity per year. The wind turbine has been designed for low wind speed areas, where wind power has not been previously practical, and can operate in wind speeds as low as 10km per hour.
