NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global retailer UNIQLO unveils its first solar paneled roof in the U.S. with Luminace, the North American decarbonization-as-a-service business of Brookfield Renewable. The 3.4-megawatt distributed generation solar project at UNIQLO’s new Phillipsburg distribution facility in Warren County was developed and is owned and operated by Luminace.
The project is a significant step in a climate strategy for UNIQLO and its parent company, Fast Retailing. Among the 2030 Targets and Action Plan announced recently, Fast Retailing is upholding climate change targets of the Paris Agreement and is committed to carbon neutrality by 2050. The project is expected to provide enough clean energy to avoid the release of approximately 2,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to the energy consumption of approximately 450 households a year.*
“My Administration’s efforts to reach one hundred percent clean energy by the year 2050 would not be possible without the cooperation of the businesses in our state,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. “I thank UNIQLO and Luminace for their collaboration in installing these solar panels on the roof of their nearly one million square foot facility in our very own Phillipsburg, New Jersey. These actions will bring us one step closer to a greener economy and creating a stronger, safer and healthier environment for all New Jerseyans.”
“UNIQLO aims to improve the daily lives of people everywhere through our apparel called LifeWear,” said Daisuke Tsukagoshi, UNIQLO USA CEO. “We are proud of this important milestone that extends our mission beyond clothing, helping to make our operations better for the planet. We are honored to have partnered with Luminace, a pioneer in the renewable energy sector, on this state-of-the-art project, which will increase the world’s renewable energy footprint starting from New Jersey.”
"Luminace is pleased to support UNIQLO’S commitment to renewable energy and their goal of carbon neutrality," said Valerie Hannah, CEO of Luminace. “This project demonstrates Luminace’s exceptional turnkey decarbonization solutions, providing accessible, reliable, and renewable energy, with no upfront costs to our customers.”
In addition to leveraging renewable energy, such as solar power, for electricity, among Fast Retailing and UNIQLO’s 2030 targets also include 90% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations (such as stores and offices) and 20% reduction in GHG emissions from its supply chain. The company commits to carbon neutrality by 2050.
*Avoided emissions calculations are based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates
About Luminace
Luminace is a leading fully integrated decarbonization-as-a-service provider in North America, sponsoring accessible, reliable, and renewable energy infrastructure to empower the zero-emissions future. Luminace has an operational and development portfolio of more than 4,000 megawatts of distributed energy resources, serving hundreds of customers in the educational, commercial, industrial, utility, and municipal sectors across the U.S. and Canada. Luminace offers a full suite of decarbonization solutions including solar, energy storage, EV solutions and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits as well as grid-resiliency options, all at no upfront cost. For additional information, please visit: www.luminace.com.
Luminace is a Brookfield Renewable company. Brookfield Renewable operates one of the world’s largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms.
About UNIQLO LifeWear
Apparel that comes from the Japanese values of simplicity, quality and longevity. Designed to be of the time and for the time, LifeWear is made with such modern elegance that it becomes the building blocks of each individual’s style. A perfect shirt that is always being made more perfect. The simplest design hiding the most thoughtful and modern details. The best in fit and fabric made to be affordable and accessible to all. LifeWear is clothing that is constantly being innovated, bringing more warmth, more lightness, better design, and better comfort to people’s lives.
About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing
UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese retail holding company with global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. UNIQLO is the largest of eight brands in the Fast Retailing Group, the others being GU, Theory, PLST (Plus T), Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam.tam, J Brand and Helmut Lang. With global sales of approximately 2.13 trillion yen for the 2021 fiscal year ending August 31, 2021 (US $19.4 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2021 rate of $1 = 109.9 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world’s largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer.
UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world's most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a global brand. Today the company has more than 2,300 stores in 25 markets including Japan. In alphabetical order, the other markets are Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. U.S. and Vietnam. In addition, UNIQLO established a social business in Bangladesh together with the Grameen Bank in 2010, and today there are more than 15 Grameen-UNIQLO stores, mostly located in Dhaka.
With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, Fast Retailing is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere. For more information about UNIQLO and Fast Retailing, please visit www.uniqlo.com and www.fastretailing.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/76d1c486-4cbd-423b-927e-af708b880557
Contact for Luminace
Meaghan Gorski
Manager, Corporate Communications
meaghan.gorski@luminace.com
Contact for UNIQLO
Michael Zakrzewski
Director, Communications & Public Relations
michael.zakrzewski@uniqlo-usa.com
