Bidco To Install 3,920 Solar Panels On Its Rooftops In A Bid To Cut Energy Costs.
The 1.2 megawatt (MW) solar plant is set to start in June
and will take six months to complete, eventually saving millions of shillings
in power costs annually for Kenya’s leading manufacturer of edible oils, cooking
fats, soaps, and detergents.
The project is also
set to shrink the company’s carbon footprint as emissions drop. Bidco currently
generates 70% of its energy needs from sawdust, macadamia husks and other
agricultural waste through co-generation.
Solar energy, priced at between Sh6 and Sh7 per kilowatt
hour (kWh) will be for Bidco’s exclusive use. At Sh7, the solar plant
electricity is about the same price as geothermal energy and about three times
cheaper than diesel generated power.
“We have plenty of rooftop space available and this project
can put our energy situation in our own hands, at an affordable price, which is
a fantastic position to be in,” Bidco chief executive Vimal Shah said in a
statement.
Bidco joins Centum Investment which is constructing a 2 MW
solar plant to power its Two Rivers Development-- a Nairobi-based real estate
project that is designed to host the largest shopping mall in the East and
Central Africa region.
Bidco’s solar project will be developed by Astonfield Solar.
Companies developing solar plants in the country include
Kenyan firms Kopere Solar Park and Kenya Solar Energy, each with an installed
capacity of 40 MW to be injected to the national grid.
Garden City Mall on Nairobi’s Thika Road launched a solar
carport last September that generates part of the electricity consumed at the
shopping complex. Strathmore University has installed solar panels with a
capacity of 0.6 MW.
Others are UK firm Solarcentury, Green Energy Africa and
Greenmillenia Energy.
“The 1.2 megawatt-peak (MWp) capacity project will generate
over 1.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) and deliver power at half the grid cost
saving Bidco about Sh650 million over its 25-year life cycle,” says Vimal.
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