Four shopping centres to go behind the meter in major commercial solar deal

One Step Off The Grid

One of Australia’s biggest shopping centre owners, SCA Property Group, has joined the march to solar, after signing a deal to power four of its major commercial sites cross regional New South Wales and South Australia with a combined total of 2.9 MW of rooftop PV.

In an ASX announcement on late last week, Queensland-based solar supplier ReNu Energy said it had entered an agreement with SCA Property to own and operate solar PV and embedded network systems across four shopping centres, for a period of 10 years with an additional three, five year options.

qld solar shopping centre

The agreement also includes a first right of refusal on a further seven centres, following completion of due diligence and subject to satisfactory performance, the company said.

ReNu said that the first four projects, valued at around $4.3 million, would see the installation of just under 3MW of solar PV and provide embedded network energy supply to the four shopping centres and as many as 130 tenants.

Under the agreement, ReNu would enter electricity supply contracts with centre management in each individual shopping centre, which would be sourced from onsite behind-the-meter solar PV, installed on the roof of each centre.

Tenants would be given the option to sign up with ReNU, and any electricity supply shortfall would be sourced from a yet to be named retail electricity provider, thus ensuring consistent and reliable supply for customers.

ReNu CEO Chris Murray said the deal marks a significant milestone for the company, as its first commercial solar PV embedded network contract…

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Comments

3 responses to “Four shopping centres to go behind the meter in major commercial solar deal”

  1. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Fantastic news, there are many shopping centres that can take a cue from such installations. A little more information about each installation might pique other’s interest: what percentage roof space is covered, what percentage electricity consumption would a shopping centre’s solar array cover? How is the benefit passed on to the individual tenants? One of the critiques of building solar arrays on large big box shops is the weight of solar panels vs the designed strength of the roof supporting structures, how do these shopping centres circumvent that problem? Is battery storage or ice storage air-conditioning considered for future upgrades? Do they consider power factor correction equipment as part of their energy cost reductions?

    1. Shane White Avatar
      Shane White

      Climate fixed! Shopping centres to the rescue!

  2. George Darroch Avatar
    George Darroch

    The commercial transition is beginning.

    I expect hundreds of such installations over the next few years, and our solar sales and installation companies better be ready.

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