Garden City Mall sees largest solar car park canopy

The 32-acre mixed-use Garden City Development has confirmed that it will install Africa’s largest solar panel covered car park on the roof of the Garden City Mall along the Thika Superhighway.

The panels are expected to produce about 1,246,000kWh per year, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 492 tonnes per year, and drastically reducing the service charge and occupancy costs for retail tenants.

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

This solution not only takes advantage of Kenya’s exceptional solar resources, but also provides additional covered parking for customers visiting Garden City Mall,” said Koome Gikunda, the Investment Principal at Actis.

POWER TOGETHER

The planned 858.3kWp solar PV car port installation will be developed under NVI Energy’s Solar4Africa plan, as part of their Pay-By-Solar scheme.

NVI is a developer and distributor of solar-generation projects across Eastern and Southern Africa, and will provide guarantees covering power and equipment performance and, together with their technical partners, will install, operate and maintain the system for 12 years, said Mr Gikunda.

Designed to work with the power grid, the PV system will automatically switch on to provide power together with back-up generators during times when the grid is unavailable, reducing diesel use and saving money.

The installation of the PV panels will help Garden City achieve its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) certification.