Sweden's largest solar park inaugurated by Axfood and Alight
In collaboration with solar energy company Alight, Axfood has built and commissioned Ax-el, Sweden's largest solar park, equivalent to 117 football fields outside Hallstavik, 100 kilometres northeast of Stockholm.
“In order to succeed with the green transition, it is important to add additional solar electricity to the market, which we are now doing by commissioning Sweden's largest solar park. For us, this is another step in our climate work, which has included a transition to green electricity and a transition to fossil-free transport,” says Simone Margulies, Axfood's President and CEO.
The solar park has a capacity of 63 GWh, produces electricity labelled Bra Miljöval[i] and covers approximately 15 percent of Axfood's annual electricity consumption. Ax-el was inaugurated on Tuesday 29 April and is the latest in a series of major investments in renewable energy from Axfood, it says in a press release from Axfood, second biggest grocer in Sweden after ICA.
Sweden's largest
The Ax-el solar park outside Hallstavik is Sweden's largest solar park and includes just over 100,000 solar panels on an area of 82 hectares, equivalent to 117 football fields. The total installed capacity provides an effect of approximately 64 MWp and an annual capacity of 63 GWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 12,600 standard-sized villas.
The electricity produced in the solar park is certified according to Bra Miljöval's criteria, which include recycling of solar panels and placement outside protected natural areas.
Axfood and the supplier Alight collaborate through a so-called PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) where Alight builds, owns and operates the facility, while Axfood undertakes to buy all the electricity produced for at least ten years.
“We are very proud of the collaboration with Axfood and that together we have now commissioned Sweden's largest solar park – by a good margin. By enabling projects like Ax-el, they show how the business community is taking on a major responsibility to drive the expansion of renewable energy, which benefits the energy transition in Sweden as a whole,” says Warren Campbell, CEO of Alight.
To preserve and improve biodiversity and the habitat for local species, meadow plants have been planted, fauna depots have been created, and bat houses will be set up. In addition, the fence surrounding the solar park has been adapted so that small game can pass in and out of the area unhindered.
Axfood's major investments in renewables
For many years, Axfood has worked to install systems on both warehouse roofs and store roofs to generate solar energy. In 2022, Axfood commissioned both Sweden's largest rooftop solar cell system at the warehouse in Bålsta and a large solar cell system at the new fruit and vegetable warehouse in Landskrona.
In 2024, Axfood accelerated the transition to renewable fuels and electricity in transport, which has significantly reduced the climate impact per ton of goods transported by 36 percent since the previous year and 53 percent since 2021. By the end of 2025, both its own and hired transport between warehouses and stores will be run entirely on renewable fuels or electricity. An ambitious investment is also being made to electrify parts of its own truck fleet.
Watch a video of the Ax-el solar park from Alight on Vimeo
[i] Bra Miljöval is a third-party certification, i.e. an independent label that is not linked to the seller or buyer. The label is the only one in Sweden that is run by an environmental organization.