Investec Property plans to develop Africa’s largest rooftop solar power plant at Cornubia Mall in Durban, South Africa, as part of its ambition to integrate renewable, low carbon emission technologies throughout its assets.
Terra Firma Solutions, a leading turnkey energy engineering solution provider based in sub-Saharan Africa, will be in charge of the construction of the facility, which will take approximately 5 months to complete. The firm will install a total of 9 505 solar panels utilizing 34 workers, 20 of which are Duran residents while the rest are skilled experts from Terra Firma Solutions.
Upon completion, the rooftop solar power plant at Cornubia Mall will have a DC capacity of 5 254 kWp (5.25 MWp) and an AC capacity of 4 290 kW (4.29 MW) which is roughly 10.5% larger than the current largest rooftop system that has a DC capacity of 4 755 kWp (4.75 MWp).
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The facility will also rank among the 15 largest rooftop-only PV plants in the world.
Overview of the Cornubia Mall on which the Rooftop Solar Power Plant will be built
Cornubia Mall is popular among ‘Durbanites’ and tourists to KwaZulu-Natal for its mix of open-air shopping, free parking, and direct park-to-shop access It has more than 120 retail assets including its anchors, Checkers, Pick ‘n Pay, and Woolworths among others.
The mall recently increased its retail presence with the inclusion of The Pro Shop, which is set to open in April this year, Checkers. The mall’s gross lettable space will be increased to 67,000m2. Noteworthy, Cornubia has a very low overall vacancy rate of less than 1.5%, which has remained consistent during the epidemic.
Gavin Bernstein, co-CEO of Investec Property, stated that they were extremely proud of their team for achieving this purchase and increasing the value of the great Cornubia Mall.
