UNFI Enhances ESG Efforts With New Solar Panel Array

The company's latest energy saving efforts includes more than 7,000 solar panels at its Howell, N.J., distribution center.

Greg Sleter

4/5/2023

UNFI's Howell, N.J., distribution center.

United Natural Foods, Inc., (UNFI) has completed its largest solar array investment to date at its Howell, N.J., distribution center. The 3.2-megawatt roof-mounted solar array is the company’s eighth solar installation and is nearly three times larger than any previous UNFI installation.

The rooftop array contains 7,171 solar panels and was developed to generate an amount of renewable electricity approximately equivalent to the annualized energy demand at the Howell distribution center. The system is projected to generate an estimated 3.8-million-kilowatt hours of electricity per year, preventing approximately 2,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from being released into the atmosphere each year. The system’s environmental benefits are equivalent to the emissions of 524 U.S. homes' electricity use for one year according to the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

“Energy efficiency is an important focus area for our Better for All Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy and we are excited to see the Howell solar array come online,” said Sandy Douglas, UNFI’s CEO. “This newest solar array, coupled with our current LED lighting projects at a majority of our distribution centers are expected to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions year-over-year and represent a milestone on our path to building a food system that is better for our people, communities, and the planet. These efforts are also expected to reduce our operational costs and help us become more efficient, and that’s a positive for our business.”

In addition to the solar arrays being installed by UNFI at its distribution centers, the company is also planning to install LED energy lighting upgrades at 33 distribution centers. When complete, it is estimated upgrades will save the company approximately $15 million over a 10-year period and reduce electric use by 2 million kilowatt hours per year.

“The completion of our Howell solar array and investments in LED lighting at our distribution centers has already helped reduced our indirect Scope 2 emissions and will continue to help us as we work to reduce energy intensity in our distribution centers by 30 percent by 2030,” said Alisha Real, UNFI’s vice president of ESG & Social Impact.