Coop builds solar park with over 3,000 panels on logistics center roof
Coop, which operates Maksimarket, Konsum and A ja O supermarket and grocery chains, built a 3,456-panel solar park, the largest of its kind in Estonia, on the roof of its logistics center just outside of Tallinn.
The one-megawatt solar park is located on the roof of a warehouse at its logistics center in Soodevahe, Rae Municipality, just behind Tallinn Airport. It is expected to fulfill approximately half of the logistics center's own energy needs on average.
The most energy at the logistics center, which supplies 350 stores across Estonia, is spent on refrigeration equipment, but ventilation and heating systems also require their share of energy.
Coop declined to reveal the cost of the solar panels, which were ordered from Germany, but according to estimates, they are expected to pay for themselves within five to seven years.
While Coop is not the first industrial park in Estonia to adopt solar energy production, other such solar parks are within the 250-350 kilowatt range, making the new solar park three to four times larger.
Nonetheless, all of the energy produced by the solar park will be used in the logistics center itself; the center will not be selling any electricity back to the grid.
Editor: Aili Vahtla