Grocery store chain Lidl has opened its largest regional distribution centre (RDC) in Houghton Regis, Luton.

The retailer said that it invested £300m ($378.59m) in the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse.

This will be Lidl GB’s first warehouse to feature automation, delivering more than 9,400 pallets daily across 150 stores.

With sustainability in mind, the new RDC features solar panels that generate 2,000,000kWH’s of electricity annually. It will operate purely on solar power at certain times throughout the year.

In addition, all of the warehouse’s delivery fleet is powered by biogas from food waste to support the retailer’s goal to make 100% of its fleet diesel-free by 2030.

The warehouse will also generate up to 1,500 jobs for the local community.

Lidl GB chief development officer Richard Taylor said: “The opening of this new RDC in Luton is a seminal moment for Lidl GB. Demand for Lidl has never been higher and we are seeing an increasing number of people walk through our doors to make savings on every shop.

“The fact that Lidl's largest RDC in the world is here in Great Britain speaks for itself not only in terms of us needing to meet the growing demand from customers but also in terms of our ambition to grow that demand in the future.

“It is a spectacular state-of-the-art site that our team has worked incredibly hard on to get to where we are today. It has the capacity to service 150 stores, which is nearly triple the amount of some of our existing warehouses, demonstrating the true scale of our ambition and growth potential.”

The opening of its largest warehouse comes as the retailer strengthened its commitment to further improve its infrastructure.

Last year, Lidl opened more than 50 new stores and added another 19 stores at the beginning of 2023.