Albert Heijn has opened a new charging plaza at its distribution centre in Pijnacker. The supermarket has a total of 270 charging stations in the Netherlands for 74 trucks as well as 250 delivery vans, making it the retailer with the largest electric vehicle fleet in the Netherlands. Albert Heijn already drove 2.5 million kilometres electrically last year and will double this number in 2024. With this, the supermarket is well on its way to achieving emission-free deliveries to all customers and shops in the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030. Moreover, the supermarket is the first European retailer to make sustainably generated energy available to strategic partners.
“‘Working together to make better food more accessible. For everyone.’ Albert Heijn’s mission is our guiding principle, through which we aim to make a meaningful contribution to a healthy, social and more sustainable society,” says Rob Heesen, Director of Business Development & Partnerships at Albert Heijn. “That is why we are working closely with partners to significantly reduce CO₂e emissions and tackle the challenges of the energy transition. With a climate target of net zero by 2050 across the entire supply chain, from farm to customer, we began this journey back in 2017 with our first electric lorry.”
Largest electric fleet
With the investment in the renewed charging plaza in Pijnacker, a third of the total supply from the distribution centre is now electric. In total, Albert Heijn now has 10 charging plazas for trucks and delivery vans across the Netherlands. This growth is needed to deliver all shops and customers sustainably by 2030. With 74 trucks now, 100 in 2024 and 180 in 2025 and more than 250 electric delivery buses, Albert Heijn is the largest electric retailer in the Netherlands. Thus, the supermarket currently delivers over 200 shops and thousands of customers every week entirely electrically and this number is increasing every day.
Leading in environmental zones
After the four major cities, Albert Heijn will now also supply Gouda, Leiden and Delft and all 32 shops in Rotterdam's environmental zone electrically. This will be done from the distribution centre in Pijnacker. Home deliveries in these regions will also be carried out electrically. In the second half of 2024, 10 more cities will be added, namely Amersfoort, Assen, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Zwolle, Deventer, Tilburg, Dordrecht, Apeldoorn and Eindhoven. This puts the supermarket ahead of the Zero Emission legislation.
First European retailer to make renewable energy available to the entire chain
Albert Heijn has been (re)building its own shops into gas-free shops since 2010: 95% are now off gas. From 2021, Albert Heijn will only use Dutch wind energy. In addition to all these initiatives, all Albert Heijn partners have been switching to green energy since 1 December 2023. This takes big steps towards the ambition of 45% CO2e reduction compared to 2018 and for 2050 net-zero emissions.
Solar panels
Albert Heijn is also investing in its own energy generation. This includes the now 50,000 solar panels on the roofs of distribution centres, Home Shop Centres and shops.
Achieving a completely CO2-free energy chain requires energy purchases from new sustainable sources. To achieve this, Albert Heijn is working on initiatives to reduce emissions in its own operations and those of suppliers. This is why Albert Heijn is sourcing a large part of its future sustainable energy needs from the most ecological wind farm on the North Sea, Ecowende, a partnership with Eneco previously announced. This partnership between Eneco and Albert Heijn is now being extended so that Albert Heijn will be the first European retailer to ensure that its partners, suppliers of fresh produce, have access to this sustainably generated energy from the Ecowende wind farm.
