The most comprehensive initiative so far in terms of environmental protection - in which the company once again lives up to its role as a pioneer - is the complete conversion of its stores and travel agencies in Germany to the exclusive use of green electricity. REWE Group is the first major German company to rely on a mixture of 100-per-cent renewable energy.

Specifically, this means that the more than 6,000 stores (REWE, PENNY, toom DIY BauMarkt, B1 Discount DIY Baumarkt, ProMarkt), travel agencies (ATLAS REISEN, DER travel agencies) and warehouses use electricity generated by hydropower, wind and biomass. This also applies to our total energy supplies for needs like lighting, refrigeration and heating and air conditioning. This makes the company into one of the largest users of green electricity in Germany.

The German law on renewable energy (EEG) of 2000 currently mandates a green electricity share of 15 per cent. In deciding to increase this mandated share voluntarily to 100 per cent, REWE Group is sending a clear signal with its own stores and travel agencies - and offering a model: The aim is to expand the share of electricity used that is generated by renewable sources throughout Europe. According to the German Act on renewable energy sources (EEG) introduced in 2000, a portion of green energy of 15 per cent is statutory. With its decision to increase this statutory portion to a 100 per cent, REWE Group sets a clear signal for its stores and travel agencies - and adds impetus to the topic: the aim is to expand the share of electricity from renewable sources throughout Europe. After all, the increased demand for certified green electricity increases the incentive to generate electricity from renewable resources.

REWE Group consumes nearly two terawatt-hours of electricity in Germany each year. This means that the company requires more energy than all the private households in the city of Cologne, the seat of the head office of the company. The amount of CO₂ emissions released from fossil fuels and other energy sources to produce this wattage would stand at nearly 600,000 tonnes per year. This previously non-renewable energy use is now being converted entirely to green power.

The member companies of REWE Group (REWE, toom hyperstores, Penny, toom BauMarkt DIY and ProMarkt) will be offering their customers the opportunity to switch over to the low-cost green power "Easy Natur" and earn a bonus of 120 euros in the period from 29 March to 11 April 2010. One hundred percent of the low-cost, green power "Easy Natur" comes from renewable energy sources, bears the "OK Power" seal of approval and has been certified by TÜV North. Stiftung Warentest has rated "Easy Natur" with a mark of "Good" (1.9) (Test 11/2009).

Contacts:

REWE Group
Corporate Communications/Environment
Phone.: +49 (0)221-149-1050
Fax: +49 (0)221-138898

Green Electricity:
EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG