Liberty Two Degrees beefs up solar capacity at malls

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18-04-2023
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Moneyweb
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Aims to see a quarter of the group’s total energy consumption generated from renewable energy by 2025.

JSE-listed Liberty Two Degrees (L2D) on Monday announced plans to roll out solar installations at Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square, lowering the group’s dependence on the fragile national grid.

L2D is set to roll out a single megawatt (MW) solar project at Sandton City and another 0.3MW at Nelson Mandela Square, with further prospects for rolling out similar projects in the greater Sandton Precinct.

The latest rollout adds to the group’s existing portfolio-wide energy management plan. Together, the projects will ensure that approximately 25% of the group’s total consumption is generated by renewable energy sources by 2025.

The group commissioned the installation of a 1MW solar project that can generate 5 097 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a day at its Promenade Mall in Cape Town last year. The installation will reduce the property’s carbon footprint by 1 934 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.

The projects build on already existing single-megawatt projects at the malls and are set to be completed in July 2023 and November 2024.

“Midlands Mall and Eastgate were identified to receive additional solar capacity as part of our sustainability roadmap,” says L2D asset management executive Brian Unsted.

“Solar is a reliable, clean source of energy and a critical component to our Net Zero carbon 2030 strategy as well as our Good Spaces strategy,” he adds.

The installations will also go a long way in reducing the group’s operational costs. This as businesses across sectors have had to stomach alternative generation cost pressures in an effort to remain operational during crippling blackouts.

“While the installation of solar power will not completely remove these two retail assets off the Eskom grid completely, it will reduce the reliance on Eskom’s coal-generated electricity supply by a projected 36% for Midlands and 32% for Eastgate, simultaneously reducing exposure to above-inflationary increasing electricity tariffs,” says Unsted.