Current, powered by GE Helps Sainsbury’s Become First U.K. Supermarket to Switch to 100% LED Lighting, Cutting Energy Consumption by 58%

• Sainsbury’s partnering with Current, powered by GE on the country’s
  largest supermarket lighting upgrade, covering more than 450 stores by
  2020
• 250,000 new LED fixtures will cut Sainsbury’s lighting energy
  consumption by 58 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more
  than three percent annually

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today Current, powered by GE (NYSE:GE) announced it is partnering with
Sainsbury’s (LON: SBRY) to make it the first grocery retailer in the
U.K. to power all its supermarkets entirely by LED lighting.

In the country’s largest deal of its kind, Current will upgrade 250,000
LED fixtures across more than 450 stores, cutting Sainsbury’s lighting
energy consumption by 58 percent and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 3.4 percent annually.

Paul Crewe, Sainsbury’s Head of Sustainability, Energy, Engineering &
Environment, said:

“At Sainsbury’s we’re committed to lowering the carbon emissions of our
stores, so we’re proud to be the first supermarket to switch our large
stores entirely to LED lighting. We’re always looking for new ways of
achieving our sustainability goals, and switching to LED lighting is a
big step in the right direction. We’ve almost halved the carbon
emissions of our stores since 2005, and in the last 12 months reduced
our electricity use by 11.6 percent despite growing our operation by
54.2 percent. This step will enable us to make significant reductions in
carbon emissions. Our customers expect us to do the right thing on their
behalf, and they can be reassured that, day or night, when they visit a
Sainsbury’s supermarket, we’ve made a significant in-road into creating
a greener supermarket for them.”

The project will support Sainsbury’s on its journey to achieve
commitments set out in the supermarket’s Sustainability Plan, which
calls for Sainsbury’s to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 30 percent
compared to 2005 baseline levels. The target has spurred numerous energy
efficiency and renewable energy initiatives across its many U.K. stores,
from LED retrofits to solar panels, biomass boilers and ground source
heat pumps. To date, Sainsbury’s has already cut absolute carbon
emissions by more than 20 percent and is on track to achieve its 2020
target.

Pete Lau, CEO of Current’s European operations, said:

“For years, Sainsbury’s has placed itself on a trajectory toward
reducing its impact on the environment. At Current, we believe the
adoption of energy efficient technology can be a core piece of building
not only a more sustainable business, but also a more profitable one.
We’re proud to continue partnering with the Sainsbury’s team, and this
ambitious project represents the next step of that journey.”

Current is delivering the massive lighting retrofit as a turnkey
service, embedding financing from GE Capital Industrial Finance with
lighting design, product supply, installation and project management
services. The full LED conversion across all Sainsbury’s stores is
scheduled to be completed by 2020.

About Sainsbury’s:

Sainsbury’s commitment to helping customers live well for less has been
at the heart of what we do since 1869. Today that means making our
customers’ lives better and easier every day by offering great quality
and service at fair prices – across food, clothing, general merchandise
and financial services – whenever and wherever they want it.

As our customers’ lives change, so will our business. Sainsbury’s
acquired Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Habitat, on 2
September 2016, creating one of the UK’s leading food and non-food
retailers – a multi-product, multi-channel business with fast delivery
networks. J Sainsbury plc operates over 2,000 stores – 601 supermarkets,
782 convenience stores, 837 Argos stores (including concessions) and
three flagship Habitat stores – together with major online channels for
food, clothing, general merchandise and financial services. We sell over
90,000 products and employs 195,000 colleagues across the UK and Ireland.

Sainsbury’s Bank offers accessible financial services products such as
credit cards, insurance, travel money and personal loans that reward
customers. Our vision is to be the most trusted retailer where people
love to work and shop. Our colleagues, strong culture and values are
integral to achieving this vision and driving our success – now and in
the future.

About Current, powered by GE:

Current is the digital engine for intelligent environments. A
first-of-its-kind startup within the walls of GE (NYSE: GE), Current
blends advanced energy technologies like LED and solar with networked
sensors and software to make commercial buildings and industrial
facilities more energy efficient & productive. Backed by the power of
Predix*, GE’s platform for the Industrial Internet, and a broad
ecosystem of technology partners, Current is helping businesses and
cities unlock hidden value and realize the potential of their
environments. www.currentbyge.com

About GE:

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming
industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are
connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global
exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business
shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and
intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application
across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and
scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the
language of industry. www.ge.com

*Trademark and/or Service Mark of General Electric Company

Contacts

GE
Nikolas Noel, 502-544-5929
[email protected]