May 18 2024 10:45
Equites Property Fund Limited has announced that as of May 1 2024, it has officially started to wheel renewable energy, generated by solar PV, onto Cape Town’s grid from its newly established 17 653m² A-grade distribution centre, located in Parow.
This initiative falls under the City’s wheeling pilot project. The JSE-listed, Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) is among the first to begin wheeling energy onto the municipal grid, with its current offtake recipient being a commercial office block on the Foreshore, where Equites is headquartered.
The Equites head office will now be receiving almost 100% of its daytime energy requirements from a renewable source. It will also be able to facilitate the supply of green energy to other tenants.
This project has allowed Equites to take a further leap into the renewable energy space with significant opportunities for growth.
“We are committed as a business to implementing climate risk mitigation initiatives and to being a sustainable organisation. With that, we identified an opportunity to become part of the transformation of the energy landscape and we’re pleased to see that come to fruition through this renewable energy project,” said Andrea Taverna-Turisan, CEO of Equites Property Fund.
“The first flow of energy from the Equites property to the city centre building under this wheeling project marks the culmination of almost two years of ongoing engagements, significant learnings and incredible support from our Executives and the entire Equites team. This is, however, only the start, as we have significant potential to increase our generation capacity and provide green energy to other businesses,” Irshaad Wadvalla, ESG Officer at Equites said.
Vusinesses are under pressure to take control of their energy consumption and to clamp down on their CO2 emissions, thereby reducing costs. As a feature of its wheeling capabilities, Equites is able to supply renewable energy to companies that do not occupy energy efficient buildings or have the necessary infrastructure installed.
Equites feeds energy into the grid which is allocated to the offtake recipient, under a wheeling arrangement, and the energy is paid for at a reduced tariff through a Power Purchase Agreement. Equites’ goal is to use existing infrastructure and its expertise to supply other businesses across South Africa with renewable energy without them requiring capital expenditure.
Equites values sustainability as a central component of its business and has an ESG framework aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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