Garden City targets energy savings with solar panels

Garden City mall plans to install a solar panel covered car park to generate energy for use by tenants.

The plan was announced by Actis’ Investment Principal Koome Gikunda on Wednesday who said the plan will take advantage of the country’s solar resources.

“We were looking for a turn-key solution that could produce clean power and pay for itself with the energy it produces,” said Gikunda.

The panels to be installed on the roof of the 50,000 square meter mall are expected to produce approximately 1,246,000 kWh per year.

The solar energy project is also set to reduce emission of Carbon Dioxide by an estimated 492 tonnes per year.

Garden City, the new 32-acre integrated residential, retail, park, hotel and office development on Nairobi’s Thika Superhighway, is being developed by Actis using a ‘green-by-design’ approach.

The installation of the solar panels will help Garden City achieve its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
The planned solar system will be installed by NVI Energy who will operate and maintain the system for 12 years.

The system will automatically switch over to provide power together with back-up generators during times when the power goes off, reducing diesel use and saving money.

ADOPTED

Solar energy is being adopted in the country to provide cheaper power with Strathmore University being the latest entrant with 0.6MW solar system on its Madaraka Campus roof top tied to the national power grid which started lighting up the university last month.

The solar system was first adopted by Unep headquarters in Gigiri that produce 500 KW followed by Williamsons Tea Factory with its 1 MW produced at its Changoi farm in Bomet County.