Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Redefine Group says that it is working on R144 million worth of solar installations across its portfolio, including some big malls in South Africa.
The group published its annual results for the year ended 31 August 2022 on Monday (7 November), outlining how its current installations have helped save the business millions of rands and reduce demand on the national grid.
An estimated 94 million kWh of energy was saved through solar PV projects and lighting retrofit projects, the group noted, with R143.8 million in new projects underway. Overall the group is investing R194 million in improving the efficiency of its portfolio.
This includes solar PV, smart metering, water-efficient ablutions and energy efficiency across its retail, office and industrial portfolio.
According to Redefine, solar generation currently makes up 17.8% of its energy consumption, up from just under 6% a year ago.
Redefine’s current installed solar capacity is 29.9MWp. The sale of Moreleta Plaza, Hazeldean Square and Shoprite Park reduced the total solar installed capacity by 2.9MWp.
“Additional projects to the value of R143.8 million are underway, which will increase our total installed solar capacity to 43.2MWp,” the group said.
The group has an additional 13.33MWp of solar builds in progress, estimated to save R25.1 million in the first year of operation and R19.7 million annually.
Malls like South Coast Mall, East Rand Mall and Centurion Mall, among others in the group’s retail portfolio, make up the biggest portion of its solar builds, totalling just under R125 million.
