Walmart Chile secures 500 GWh renewables deal with Copec annually

• Walmart Chile signed with Copec EMOAC to source about 500 GWh of renewable electricity per year, covering ~80% of nationwide operations.

Walmart Chile has inked an agreement with energy trader Copec EMOAC to supply roughly 500 GWh of renewable electricity annually—enough, the retailer says, to power about 80% of its national operations with 100% green energy. For a chain with hundreds of large, energy-hungry stores and distribution centers, the move locks in cleaner megawatt-hours and a steadier power budget in a market with widening price swings.

Under Chile’s liberalized model, corporate buyers can source certified renewables via traders who blend output from wind, solar and small hydro portfolios. The advantages are practical. Walmart can match load profiles across stores, cold chains, and e-commerce hubs; Copec can optimize behind the scenes, firming delivery with contracts and balancing services. Hourly tracking is becoming table stakes—expect transparent disclosures on certificate issuance, retirement, and time matching as data quality improves.

Operationally, retail loads are spiky: refrigeration and HVAC drive daytime peaks, while logistics hubs run hard through the afternoon and evening. Price-aware scheduling—pre-cooling where product allows, shifting flexible tasks into low-carbon hours, smoothing EV-charging at store carparks—can amplify the climate impact and cost savings of the supply deal. Many big-box sites still have untapped rooftops; pairing the portfolio contract with incremental rooftop solar and small batteries would further flatten bills and add local resilience.

For Copec EMOAC, Walmart is a flagship customer that showcases a full-stack offer—clean power, shaping, and reporting—that other corporates can adopt with minimal friction. For Chile’s grid, a large, price-sensitive buyer committing to renewables helps anchor financing for new projects and improves daytime demand certainty in regions with abundant solar.

Sustainability-wise, the contract mostly tackles Scope 2 emissions; Walmart’s larger footprint spans logistics, products and customer travel. But electricity is one lever the company directly controls, and 500 GWh per year is meaningful. If the agreement evolves toward granular, hour-by-hour matching and adds on-site generation, it could become a template for Chilean retail’s next phase of decarbonisation.