Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront is seeing the start of the installation of more than 7500 square metres of solar panels on eight rooftops of key buildings on the 123-hectare property, as the landmark property expands its emphasis on going green. The installation follows a tender process that was completed in June of this year in which Sustainable Power Solutions was awarded the Engineering and Procurement Contractor (EPC) business. As part of this tender, SolarWorld Africa is the chosen Photovoltaic (PV) module supplier.
The solar project will provide 4207 SolarWorld SunModule Plus SW260 Poly PV modules with an output of 1093.8kWp to Africa’s most iconic destination. The ground-breaking project will produce an estimated 1 640 000kWh, units of clean energy, and reduce 1610 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The average daily production of this system will be 4495kWh which is the energy needed to supply one day’s worth of electricity to 310 average-sized households.
Axel Scholle, Managing Director of Sustainable Power Solutions, the engineering, design, procurement and construction contractor, with a total of over 5.5MW installed and currently the market leader in South Africa with projects spanning all Provinces and across the border to Namibia, says, “It is a privilege to be a part of this flagship project. We pride ourselves on our focus on quality components and I am most satisfied that our highly professional team of engineers is on track to deliver this project on time and within budget, particularly as we were faced with the additional challenges of managing multiple subcontractors in a very busy public space.”
The first phase is set for completion in October 2015 and the overall project is scheduled to go live by early 2016. SolarWorld solar panels will be installed on the roofs of the Watershed, the Breakwater, the Clock Tower, Granger Bay, Two Oceans Aquarium, Ports Edge, West Quay and Portswood House.
SolarWorld Africa Managing Director, Gregor Kuepper, says, ”We are very proud to be the chosen partner on this important project, validating our global business model of manufacturing high quality solar panels with long durability. Our 30-year track record in Africa and 40-years in the solar industry is testament to our commitment to the value proposition of technology leadership. This installation is significant in that it shall become the beacon for the roll out of solar rooftop applications for embedded generation in the commercial sector across South Africa, and further North into the continent. Furthermore, this project instills the financial benefits of a diversified energy mix, while emphasising the importance of becoming environmentally friendly.”
Proving a winning team, world-class solar system manufacturer SolarWorld and established project developer Sustainable Power Solutions are setting a new benchmark for the commercial sector in terms of the reduction of carbon emissions and the saving of electricity costs.
The V&A Waterfront’s Executive Manager of Operations, Colin Devenish said, “The V&A Waterfront offers a world-class product, and as the most visited destination on the continent we take our reputation and green credentials very seriously. We are committed to ensuring our environmental and sustainability measures and initiatives are at the forefront of all our business practices. We believe that this project enables us to deliver world-class standards that can be measured against responsible business practices.”
The V&A Waterfront attracted more than 24 million visitors and reported a 19% increase in retail trade sales for 2014, marking four consecutive years of consistent growth since 2011. The property has contributed R259.1 billion in nominal terms to the South African economy over the last twelve years, with a cumulative contribution to the provincial GGP of over R227 billion since 2002.
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