South Africa is still in the midst of an energy crisis as the country has faced over 365 days of load shedding and has experienced devastating effects that have resulted in major impacts such as Loss of revenue, Supply chain disruptions, Investment uncertainty, pressure on alternative energy sources and loss of productivity to name a few. Businesses are struggling to survive as these advesre effects have taken their toll on small and large scale companies.

The Retailability Group is one such company that has had to face the realities of these effects on their business. Retailability is a fashion retailer Group whose stores are mainly located in rented spaces accross shopping malls and centres. For the most part, these locations have backup generators which are provided by landlords to ease the frustrations of loadshedding so that retailers may continue to trade. However, a backup generator is not an obligation to the landloards and thus, many of their stores do not have this kind of facility.

Retailability has identified several stores lacking an alternative back-up power source during load shedding, leading to various issues such as the inability to operate, loss of merchandise due to theft, and a decrease in revenue. Faced with this challenge, the group committed to finding a solution. Given that GreenYellow successfully executed a lighting optimization project in over 108 stores nationwide as part of its #SHIFTEfficiency service offering, reaffirming the selection of GreenYellow as energy experts was a natural choice for the Retailability Group.

The initial discussions regarding the Battery-as-a-Service project took place in May 2023, during which 6 sites requiring urgent installation of backup power supply were identified. Retailability was in search of a system that would enable it to sustain operations up to stage 8 load shedding. GreenYellow then assessed the overall project value and designed a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) system, incorporating the latest technologies to ensure uninterrupted power supply. This backup battery system powers approximately 50% of the stores' lighting, point-of-sales terminals, security systems, and network during loadshedding periods.

Norman Drieselmann, CEO of Retailability said "This project was the continuation of an amazing joint initiative between Retailability and Green Yellow to both reduce our power usage needs and ensure continuity of supply thereby enhancing our customer experience drive".

Mike Ilias, the Country Director of GreenYellow South Africa, shared how the company provides businesses with various benefits such as increased flexibility, reduced upfront costs, simplified access to the latest technologies, improved sustainability, and more efficient management of energy resources.

Encouraging the rapid adoption of battery-dependent technologies such as electric vehicles and energy storage solutions, GreenYellow is enthusiastic about the roll-out of this model, which is set to evolve into a major trend in the energy and technology landscape.

Our collaboration with Retailability is a testament to our shared vision of a greener and more sustainable future. Together, we will continue to drive the energy transition and empower our customers to make impactful changes in their energy consumption habits, says Ilias.