Project Solar: On-site renewable energy generation project

Belgium

On- and off-site renewable energy generation is an integral part of our approach to redeveloping buildings. As part of this, we launched Project Solar together with our shareholder COFRA Holding in 2020. Through the installation of solar PV panels on the roofs of the buildings, Project Solar provides clean, on-site energy to the tenants of the retail park assets that we manage for COFRA in Belgium.

Current status

While 2020 saw the launch of the project and a fair amount of preparation, during 2021 we managed to install 23 PV installations on the roofs of various retail park assets in Belgium, providing green power to local tenants. In 2022 our solar park grew further and it currently has 33 individual installations with 32,011 operational solar panels that all together have a peak capacity of 11.6 MWp, this is equivalent to approximately 2,792 households*. Take a look at the map below for the latest status (November 2022).

*Based on an average annual consumption of 3,500 kWh per household

Mission 2040

An important contribution to our emissions reduction roadmap in the context of Mission 2040 is the provision of as much on-site renewable energy as possible for our tenants. Increasing the share of our tenants’ use of renewable electricity (their Scope 2 emissions) will benefit us by directly reducing our Scope 3 emissions and will also contribute to the clean energy transition Europe needs.

Tenant collaboration

A good collaboration with the tenants is crucial for the success of a solar energy project. Normally, the tenants are responsible for procuring their electricity. This project provides the tenants the opportunity to purchase locally generated green energy at an attractive price as Redevco finances the investment of the solar installation for each individual tenant.

Next steps

Energy security and energy price volatility are becoming an ever-increasing risk that our occupiers want to manage and mitigate. We are confident that by continuing to roll out Project Solar on suitable roofs of our assets, we are offering a beneficial service to our tenants and making our assets more future-proof and resilient. Redevco’s ambition is to give all tenants the possibility to join Project Solar over time.

We aim in the coming years to install solar panels on all available roofs of the retail parks we manage in Belgium. It involves at least 200.000 square meters of suitable (roof) area for 32 MWp (megawatt peak) of PV installations producing green power for local tenants. This corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 7.770 households* and an annual saving of 4.582 tons of CO2. This will ultimately generate around 25% of the CO2 reduction needed for the company to become carbon neutral by 2040.

*Based on an average annual consumption of 3,500 kWh per household