Why retailers are recalibrating ESG now
Across Europe, disclosure rules have shifted from aspiration to obligation. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive brings audit-grade sustainability data into the core of annual reporting, using European Sustainability Reporting Standards that go far beyond carbon slogans and into governance, controls and decision-useful metrics. The International Sustainability Standards Board has released IFRS S2 for climate-related disclosures, closely aligned with TCFD and sector KPIs. Together these frameworks push retailers to show real Scope 2 reductions, credible transition plans and clear links between decarbonization and financial performance.
For cross-border groups operating in or sourcing from Ukraine, the direction of travel is consistent: prove the numbers, explain the plan, and connect capital allocation to climate outcomes. On-site solar is one of the few levers that advances all three priorities. Early movers translate kilowatt-hours into measurable cost savings, documentable emissions cuts and resilience benefits investors can audit. That combination matters when boards defend budgets and when lenders evaluate risk.
In practice, the ESG conversation begins with electricity. Retail stores and distribution centers consume power in predictable daytime patterns, which maps naturally to photovoltaic generation. Early in the journey, many chains target big roofs and logistics hubs where daytime loads are highest. For these footprints, solar panels for industrial use become a pragmatic anchor because they generate where consumption occurs, reduce grid draw in peak hours and create metered evidence suitable for assurance.
Where solar fits inside modern disclosures
IFRS S2 expects companies to disclose governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets, including scenario analysis and progress against transition plans. ESRS E1 requires energy mix, consumption, and greenhouse-gas metrics with a defensible audit trail. The GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance remains the accounting backbone, clarifying location-based and market-based reporting and the role of energy attributes. What matters for retailers is process discipline: how data is captured, validated and rolled up from stores to group-level dashboards without gaps or manual ambiguity.
Ukraine’s market is aligning with European practice. A Guarantees of Origin mechanism is in place and maturing, enabling companies to substantiate renewable electricity claims when they complement on-site generation. That infrastructure expands the toolkit for retailers whose roofs or car parks cannot host enough capacity to cover all loads. The key is narrative clarity: explain how on-site production, certificates and residual grid mix interact in the market-based method while still disclosing the location-based reality.
The KPIs that translate from panels to pages
- Energy intensity movements: kWh per square meter and per unit of revenue before and after commissioning, normalized for weather and occupancy.
- Scope 2 reductions: location-based baselines vs market-based outcomes that incorporate on-site PV, any certificates and grid factors.
- Financials linked to climate: LCOE of PV compared with daytime tariffs, with sensitivity to curtailment, degradation, O&M and CAPEX trends.
- Controls and assurance: metering accuracy, data lineage, and an evidence pack that ties inverter logs to reported figures.
The retail load profile makes solar unusually valuable
Supermarkets and hypermarkets run refrigeration and HVAC continuously, with daytime peaks. Many studies put refrigeration at roughly one third to one half of store electricity depending on climate, size and equipment. That steady, sunlit demand improves self-consumption of PV and minimizes export risk. In Ukrainian conditions, long-term PV yields of about 1,100-1,250 kWh per kWp per year are realistic depending on region and tilt. A 1 MWp rooftop or carport array can therefore produce approximately 1.1-1.25 GWh annually, offsetting a large share of a big store or a meaningful slice of a distribution hub’s consumption.
Levelized energy costs for MW-scale solar typically undercut commercial daytime tariffs in Europe, strengthening the investment case even before certificates are considered. The economics improve further when systems are designed around self-consumption rather than export. Carport structures add an amenity layer for customers and employees while unlocking area for capacity where roofs are constrained.
Why storage often follows the panels
Adding batteries for solar power stations solves three operational issues: safeguarding perishable goods during outages, reducing peak-demand charges, and smoothing the mismatch between noon production and evening traffic. Storage makes PV output schedulable, boosts self-consumption and provides additional Scope 2 gains by shaving peaks that would otherwise be met by carbon-intensive marginal generators. Under ESRS and IFRS S2, those capabilities also support resilience narratives within transition plans and risk registers, which investors increasingly scrutinize.
Procurement routes and what they mean for ESG pages
Retailers usually choose among three deployment models. Each has distinct disclosure implications and control requirements:
- Capex ownership: full control of metering and data, direct integration with asset registers and depreciation, and straightforward mapping to energy and GHG metrics.
- Lease or on-site PPA: operational simplicity with off-balance-sheet nuances. Ensure contractual rights to metered data and disclosure. Align performance guarantees with ESG KPIs.
- Certificates to complement on-site: when space or structure limits capacity, Guarantees of Origin or I-RECs can cover residual loads. Be explicit about additionality logic and use them to close gaps, not to substitute for practical on-site opportunities.
Controls, governance and the data that withstands assurance
Investors and auditors now expect sustainability controls similar to financial reporting. That means role-based access to SCADA or inverter portals, documented data pipelines, immutable logs and monthly reconciliations between utility import, PV output, storage dispatch and export volumes. Tie meter IDs to invoices, commissioning certificates and asset registers. Embed the energy dataset in risk management: for example, standard operating procedures that coordinate HVAC schedules with PV forecasts, or refrigeration setpoint optimizations during high solar periods. Small operational tweaks, when repeated across dozens of sites, compound into measurable intensity reductions and credible progress against targets.
What good looks like in Ukraine in 2025
A credible playbook blends tangible assets, complementary certificates and tight governance. Start with a flagship array at a logistics hub near a major arterial road, sized as a 1 MW turnkey solar power station to maximize daytime self-consumption across cooling, conveyors and charging bays. Roll out standardized 200-500 kWp systems to large-format stores where roof loading and grid interconnection allow, prioritizing locations with high energy intensity and midday footfall. Deploy batteries at perishable-heavy sites to protect cold chains and reduce reliance on diesel backup. Use certificates to bridge the residual gap and describe the market-based method transparently while still reporting location-based figures.
The reporting map that keeps everyone aligned
- Targets: intensity and absolute GHG goals consistent with corporate net zero commitments and local grid realities.
- Plans: IFRS S2 transition milestones by asset class - rooftops, carports, storage - tied to capital budgeting cycles.
- Metrics: monthly store-level dashboards that reconcile production, consumption, exports and certificates, then roll up to group disclosures.
- Assurance: evidence packs that allow auditors to trace each number from the ESG page back to meters and contractual documents without friction.
How Dolya Solar Energy supports ESG-grade outcomes
For retail groups intent on durable value, execution quality is decisive. Our engineering teams design for high self-consumption, integrate storage where it pays back, and structure data so every kilowatt-hour is traceable from the inverter to the ESG page. We help align site selection with energy intensity, model LCOE against tariff scenarios, and set up metering and documentation flows that stand up to assurance. In a market converging on CSRD and IFRS S2, that combination delivers decarbonization with financial clarity and audit-ready evidence.
