Renewable energy in warehouses: how we’re decarbonising refrigeration at STEF

Behind every fresh yoghurt, every seafood product such as mussels, every frozen meal and every product delivered at the right temperature, there is refrigeration. And producing refrigeration, day and night, requires a great deal of electricity. This is at the heart of what we do at STEF.

We are aware of what this means for the environment. That is why we have been taking action for several decades to use this energy more sparingly and make it cleaner. The goal we have set ourselves with our Moving Green initiative is clear: to power our warehouses with low-carbon electricity, i.e. from renewable or nuclear sources. Here’s how we’re going about it, step by step.

The best energy is the energy we don’t use. Even before we talk about green electricity, we’re working to reduce our energy needs.
This is the mission of  Blue Enerfreeze, our energy-focused subsidiary, which manages the energy performance of our sites.

In practical terms, we’re tackling waste: insulating warehouses, optimising refrigeration systems and closely monitoring consumption. This approach is underpinned by ISO 50001 certification and a robust energy management system, which drives us to make further progress every year.

The results speak for themselves: between 2014 and 2019, the implementation of our energy management system enabled us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of goods handled at the quayside by more than 20 per cent. This is a long-term trajectory, built up over time.

Our warehouses have one major advantage: vast, sun-exposed roofs. We are transforming them into renewable electricity generation plants.

As of 1 May 2026, the Group has more than 100 solar power plants. Whether on rooftops, on the ground or as shade structures above car parks, these installations generate solar energy that we consume directly on site. In 2024, we expanded our renewable energy generation capacity with the commissioning of a wind farm, whose output complements that of our solar power installations.

With an installed capacity approaching our target of 80 megawatts peak, self-generation now accounts for a growing proportion of the Group’s electricity. And this is just the beginning, as there remains significant potential on our rooftops across Europe.

For the remainder of our needs, we choose our electricity carefully.

In countries such as France, the national grid is already largely decarbonised, thanks in particular to nuclear power: a significant proportion of our consumption is therefore low-carbon by nature. 

Where this is not the case, we enter into contracts backed by Guarantees of Origin. This mechanism certifies that the electricity we purchase does indeed come from renewable or nuclear sources. We remain transparent on this point: this is a complementary measure, designed to support—not replace—our efforts to reduce consumption and generate our own energy.

By combining these three approaches, we now cover nearly nine-tenths of our low-carbon electricity needs. The 100 per cent target has not yet been fully achieved, and we acknowledge this: decarbonising a portfolio of warehouses across Europe takes time.

But the momentum is strong. Since 2019, we have been investing in our renewable energy generation capacity. Building on this progress, we are now revising our ambition to align it with a more ambitious climate trajectory. The development of solar power at our sites will remain one of our key priorities.

Decarbonising cooling is not a distant goal: it is an ongoing endeavour, driven by our teams on the ground.