Australia's largest retailer, which consumes around one per cent of the nation's electricity, announced the commitment on Thursday.

It's the latest Australian company to join the global RE100 movement, bringing together businesses around the world to commit to 100 per cent renewable power.

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said the company was proud to contribute to a greener future.

"Moving to 100 per cent renewable electricity is the right thing to do, and something a growing number of our customers, team members and shareholders expect us to lead on," he said.

"We use around one per cent of Australia's national electricity, so we have a unique opportunity to use our scale for good and make a real impact."

The company plans to invest tens of millions of dollars in renewable energy partnerships and prioritise green energy projects to spur growth in the industry and new jobs, he added.

"We believe this will not only be a positive for our business, but also contribute to a better tomorrow by making green energy accessible to more Australians."

Woolworths will expand its network of solar panels at more than 150 locations and sign power purchase agreements with wind and solar energy providers.

Greenpeace applauded the move saying it gave Woolworths the energy edge on rival Coles, which it urged to follow suit.

"What Woolies does matters," Greenpeace REenergise Campaign Director Lindsay Soutar said.

"Businesses like Woolies know that wind and solar just make sense. They stand to make huge savings on electricity bills."

Woolworths has 1000 supermarkets and metro stores, and 3000 stores including Big W and Dan Murphy's, employing more than 215,000 people.

The 14 Australian members of RE100 include: Woolworths Group, Westpac, Suncorp, QBE, NAB, Mirvac, Macquarie, Interactive, Dexus, Commonwealth bank, BINGO Industries, Bank Australia, Atlassian and ANZ.

More than 70 international companies with operations in Australia are also members of RE100.

Australian Associated Press