At a press conference held on Wednesday, 27 September 2023, Thomas Stelzer, governor of the provincial government of Upper Austria, officially commissioned the new photovoltaic system on the roof of the VARENA shopping centre in Vöcklabruck, which is managed by SES. Together with Marcus Wild, SPAR Board Member and Chair of the SES Supervisory Board, Thomas Krötzl, VARENA centre manager, and the Mayor of Vöcklabruck, Peter Schobesberger, he declared one of the region’s most powerful photovoltaic systems operational.

The system has a total output of 1,353 kWp and covers an area of 8,300 square metres. 3,148 modules were installed and 22 inverters convert the solar energy into usable electricity for the shopping mall. In future, the centre will generate approximately 1,340,000 kilowatt hours of environmentally friendly solar power annually, meeting around 50 percent of its own needs. The switch to generating its own supply eases pressure on the public power grid and saves the company about 800 tons of CO₂ per year. Construction began in spring 2023 and the system was commissioned on 27 September.

Upper Austria making rapid progress towards the clean energy of tomorrow
Renewables in Upper Austria are growing at a fast pace. In the past year, Upper Austria has topped comparisons with other Austrian provinces, not only for overall solar and geothermal energy production, hydropower and biomass but also for photovoltaic expansion. As Governor Thomas Stelzer sees it, today's commissioning of the new photovoltaic system on the roof of VARENA Vöcklabruck marks another important step in the construction of a modern, climate-neutral business location.


Thomas Stelzer, Governor of Upper Austria:
“We need to produce as much renewable energy as possible in Upper Austria and further improve energy efficiency in order to retain our region’s competitive edge. In addition to private households, institutions and municipalities, it is local businesses that are having the biggest impact on energy transition by installing systems on the roofs of their buildings while simultaneously driving innovation in this sector. We need powerful, regional initiatives, such as that demonstrated by SES in Vöcklabruck, to deliver a clean energy future for Upper Austria. My congratulations go to the operators on their exemplary investment.”

Conservation of resources is the number one priority
As the SPAR Group real estate unit, SES keeps a firm finger on the sustainability pulse when it comes to planning, constructing and operating shopping destinations. As far as the parent company SPAR is concerned, sustainability and conservation of resources have been key priorities for decades, from measures to reduce packaging through to saving energy. Targets for cutting energy consumption by 50 percent and greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by 2050 form the cornerstones of SPAR’s energy policy. Indeed, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have already been cut by 13 percent and 40 percent respectively since 2014. Three key steps to achieving these goals are:

• consistent shift away from fossil fuels
• establishing energy management systems
• generating own energy

The group’s 153 photovoltaic systems in operation at the end of 2022 generated 10.1 GWh of green solar energy in total.

 
Marcus Wild, SPAR Board Member and Chair of the SES Supervisory Board:
"As Austria's biggest food retailer, SPAR is still family-owned. This is precisely why we feel committed to ensuring that our company will benefit our children and grandchildren. We are taking vital steps towards safeguarding the future for generations to come with the sustainability initiatives taken by our SES real estate unit in centres in several European countries. SES is developing sustainable strategies for achieving a greener future, ranging from a nationwide network of charging points to generating our own electricity while ensuring the viability of retail locations by making them fit for the future."

VARENA: Sustainability means assuming responsibility for the region
VARENA - one of three popular SES shopping centres in Upper Austria - is already committed to responsible use of resources in day-to-day operations and where future development is concerned. Typical examples include mall air-conditioning adjusted to shopper footfall, free cooling using cold water storage or night air and the 12 charging stations for visitors. All mall lighting was converted to LED in 2022 and 2023. VARENA's energy management system is certified by TÜV Austria (certification body) and the centre has been rated as "excellent" for operational management and building performance by BREEAM.at in-use certification.

Thomas Krötzl, VARENA Center Manager:
"The new photovoltaic system on our roof is yet another milestone in VARENA's sustainability strategy. We are now geared for the future, generating a considerable proportion of the centre’s energy needs ourselves, with the remainder met completely by green electricity. Along with all the other measures, we are again demonstrating our responsibility towards the region where we live and work."

SES forges ahead with generation of own energy
This year alone, the SPAR Group subsidiary, SES Spar European Shopping Centers, is investing over 40 million euros in photovoltaic systems, energy-saving measures and sustainable operation of its malls. The commissioning of the large-scale photovoltaic system at VARENA marks the company’s fifth installation for own energy generation to go live on the roofs of SES Austrian shopping malls. SES now has a total output of 3,122 kilowatts peak at its Austrian locations alone.

This brings the company a big step closer to its climate goal of using 50 per cent of available roof space for photovoltaic systems. By the end of 2023, SES will be operating photovoltaic panels covering a total of 45,000 square metres on its centres in Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. The three SES Centers in Upper Austria will have already achieved their climate goal in full by that date.

Seven Austrian SES centres with photovoltaic systems by the end of 2023
Five Austrian centres under SES management are currently generating environmentally friendly solar power for their own use - MURPARK Graz, WEBERZEILE Ried, MARIANDL Krems, CITYPARK Graz and now VARENA Vöcklabruck. Two more PV systems are scheduled for installation by the end of 2023 - ATRIO Villach and MAX.CENTER Wels.