Coles and Origin have extended their renewable electricity partnership for another three-year term.

The extended partnership aims to install 15MW of solar at 75 sites and 15MWh of battery assets, improving energy resilience, reducing emissions and supporting Australia’s transition to a lower-carbon energy system.

As a part of the partnership, Coles and Origin will continue to trial an on-market backup battery system which combines wholesale energy arbitrage and peak demand management with a backup power system.

“Traditionally, retailers have relied on diesel or gas generators to provide backup power to lighting, point of sale and other critical systems during outages. These systems are often idle for much of their life, can be costly to maintain and generate emissions when used,” says Coles.

“The new on-market backup battery model offers a more sustainable alternative by reserving battery capacity for essential store operations, such as lighting and payment systems, while using remaining capacity to support electricity market participation.”

Over the next 12 months, Coles plans to expand deployment of the on-market backup battery initiative across additional stores and continue refining optimisation through data analytics and Origin’s Virtual Power Plant platform.

The retailer notes that it has already achieved key sustainability milestones, including sourcing 100% renewable electricity and reducing combined Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 75% in FY25. The on-market backup battery initiative builds on this progress by targeting backup generation, described as being one of the more challenging areas to decarbonise.