Eastgate in Johannesburg now has the largest “registered” rooftop solar installation anywhere in Africa, the owner of the sprawling shopping centre said on Monday.
It has made this claim as it nears completion, in the coming weeks, of the giant solar project. It installed its first solar panels in 2020, when phase 1 of the installation was commissioned.
This first phase consisted of a 1MW, or 1.2MWp, of solar power, which resulted in an energy savings of 1.9GWh in 2023. Since then, as part of phase 2, the mall has expanded its renewable energy capacity with the addition of 5MW, or 6MWp, of solar power.
In total, the mall now has almost 13 675 solar panels, which equates to 35% of the energy required to run Eastgate’s daily load generated through solar energy.
“The solar installation covers most of the available mall roof space, an area of approximately 28 100m²,” the mall said in a statement on Monday. This makes it Africa’s largest “registered” rooftop installation, when considering both phases combined generate a total of 6MW or 7.2MWp in solar power.
Investing in solar power was a strategic decision taken by Liberty Two Degrees (L2D), the property owner, as it provided a cost-effective, efficient and environmentally friendly means of generating electricity.
To ensure that no parking space was lost, new structural steel subframes were constructed on the roof, with solar panels placed on top of them.
Carbon emissions
Due to the reduced reliance on the grid, Eastgate Shopping Centre will see an estimated reduction of 10.9t of CO² emissions per year.
The professional consultant and contract partners on the solar project were Acost Quantity Surveyors, Batley Partners Architects, Comprac, Concor Construction, MNS Engineering, Origin Project Managers, Solink, Solareff and Zutari. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
