The supermarket chains Grupo Covirán and DIA have confirmed their participation as Spanish pilot units of the SUPER-HEERO project, an initiative funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme that aims to boost energy efficiency investment in small and medium supermarkets.
The two chains will choose at least one store each to install smart meters and assess energy consumption in sight of planning energy efficiency and technological retrofit measures. The smart meters will be provided and installed free of charge and will remain property of the supermarket at the end of project. Moreover, the pilot units will be introduced to a set of innovative financial schemes, loyalty programs and customer rewards through which they could finance the energy efficiency measures needed. Last, but not least, the supermarkets will be included in a series of outreach and communication activities, as well as in a free advertising campaign that will boost their positioning at both national and EU level.
In the case of Grupo Covirán, the stores involved in the project are located in Granada, home of their headquarters, while for DIA they are based in Madrid. The work with these pilots will allow to implement the project’s concept at a practical level, assess its results, and replicate it in other locations and in different retail stores.
The importance of energy efficiency in supermarkets
Supermarkets are one of the retail sectors with the most energy consumption. Their energy costs represent between 10% and 15% of the total operating costs. If we add to this the fact that their benefit margins are not usually very high, we can determine the significantly positive impact that energy efficiency measures can have on the sector. The idea behind SUPER-HEERO is to help small and medium supermarkets to access the necessary funding for the implementation of energy efficiency strategies through stakeholder and community engagement.
The project will enable upfront cost reduction and engagement of additional investment sources, while bringing direct economic and environmental savings for the supermarkets, as well as cascade to the final customer, the engaged Energy Service Companies and utilities, and technology providers.
