Growthpoint installs rooftop solar farms on its properties

Growthpoint Properties has embarked on its largest yet rooftop solar power installations at its Northgate Mall in Johannesburg and Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria.

Johannesburg - Growthpoint Properties has embarked on its largest yet rooftop solar power installations at its Northgate Mall in Johannesburg and Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria.

The solar power installations at each of the malls will have the capacity to provide 1.2 megawatt peaks (MWp) and form part of a comprehensive solar power initiative embarked on by Growthpoint.

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Werner van Antwerpen, the head of sustainability at the listed property company, said yesterday that Growthpoint had already passed the halfway mark in achieving its goal of installing rooftop solar farms capable of generating 6MWp, which would be enough solar energy to power almost 2 500 average homes.

Solar farms have already been installed at some of Growthpoint’s landmark assets across the country, including at the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town, The Constantia Village, Bayside Mall and Airport Industria, while its InfoTech building in Pretoria, Waterfall Mall in Rustenburg and Lincoln on the Lake office building in uMhlanga also benefit from solar power.

Van Antwerpen said Growthpoint had to date spent R45.1 million on solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. But some of these projects, such as at the V&A Waterfront, where Growthpoint only owned 50 percent of the property did not represent the full cost of the installation.

Growthpoint has a further four projects underway, which are expected to generate about 2.7MWp of renewable energy. These projects include its Northgate and Brooklyn Mall installations plus solar farms at the Kolonnade Shopping Centre in Pretoria and its office property at 33 Bree and De Waterkant in Cape Town.

Van Antwerpen said this equated to an additional expenditure for Growthpoint of R44.6m. He said at the Northgate Mall, Kolonnade Shopping Centre and Brooklyn Mall, installations were being done in conjunction with their respective equity partners and the R44.6m also did not represent the full cost of the installations.

Van Antwerpen said the solar energy projects were scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. He said a further R30m had been approved by Growthpoint for several other projects that would commence this year.

Growthpoint has already completed the installation of PV solar panels with the capacity to generate more than 3.2MWp at seven of its office, retail and industrial properties and has identified more than 70 buildings across its portfolio for possible future solar PV installation.

Rudolf Pienaar, the divisional director of the office sector at Growthpoint, said it was committed to increasing solar energy generation, making all its 185 office buildings energy and water efficient and ensuring all its long-term office investments and new developments were certified green buildings.

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