Australian low-price retailers Kmart and Target together are expected to achieve a 100 per cent renewable electricity target by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
Kmart Group’s parent company Wesfarmers confirmed the news in its 2025 Annual Report, noting this target will mean the subsidiary’s electricity needs will be matched by electricity from renewable sources.
“This will address its Scope 2 (marketbased) emissions and contribute significantly to its net zero target,” the parent company reported, adding that the retail group continues to take steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce Scope 1 emissions sources.
Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions are owned and controlled by the company, while Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, such as electricity, steam, heating, and cooling.
Part of this comes from investments in efficient lighting design and energy efficient heating/cooling in stores, which has reportedly cut electricity consumption by 5.6 per cent from the 2021 financial year baseline in kilowatt hours per square metre.
Kmart Group’s sister companies Officeworks and Bunnings have already achieved their respective 100 per cent renewable energy target this year.
Wesfarmers reported that since establishing the target for its three key retail subsidiaries, each of them deployed a portfolio of solutions to meet their 100 per cent renewable electricity target. This includes lighting upgrades, building management systems and energy-efficient store designs, as well as reducing and stabilising electricity consumption.
Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and Officeworks account for 74 per cent of Wesfarmers’ Scope 2 (market-based) emissions.
“Bunnings began installing solar in 2009, and rooftop solar installations have since increased in scale,” Wesfarmers reported. “Over time, all three divisions have expanded installations to 245 systems, representing more than 52 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.”
Across the group, rooftop solar installations totalled 257 systems with 55 MW of generation capacity. Renewable electricity contracts are used by Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and Officeworks to meet the majority of their renewable electricity needs.
Wesfarmers noted that contract arrangements vary but include long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) linked to solar, wind and hydro assets from projects such as the MacIntyre Wind Farm, Sebastopol Solar Farm, Numurkah Solar Farm, Tailem Bend 2 Solar Farm and CleanCo’s Western Downs Green Power Hub.
“The remaining electricity needs, mainly for embedded networks and landlord sites, will be met with unbundled LGCs.”
From these initiatives, Wesfarmers has reportedly cut its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 9.3 per cent to 1,026.6 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY25.
Kmart Group in particular cut its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 12.6 per cent in the same time frame to 161.3 ktCO2e.
Officeworks was slashed by more than half to 11.2 ktCO2e, from 25 ktCO2e in the previous financial year. Bunnings also slashed its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by half, from 49.4 ktCO2e in FY24 to 24.6 ktCO2e in FY25.
For Kmart Group, achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity use adds to other key initiatives by the retail group, including refining its Scope 3 emissions, which cover all other indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in the retailer’s value chain but not directly owned or controlled by them.
Kmart Group noted this refining of Scope 3 emissions inventory is done by updating emission factors associated with products sold. “Using this refined inventory, in 2025, Scope 3 emissions were 7,795.6 ktCO2e,” Wesfarmers reported.
“Kmart Group considers that as a consequence of its updated inventory, data more accurately reflects the product mix and is expected to support integration of supplier data in the future.”