KENYA – United Aryan EPZ (UAL), an apparel manufacturer, has inaugurated their brand new 1.8MWp rooftop solar plant in partnership with Solarise, making it the largest operational rooftop solar facility in East Africa.
UAL are renowned makers of woven and knit garments exported to the USA and European markets and currently employ around 12,000 people.
“UAL has set an ambitious target for implementing global environmental best practices and improving sustainability by 2028,” said Pankaj Bedi, Chairman of UAL.
“This includes switching to green manufacturing to protect the environment, improving work conditions, refining corporate governance, and better health, safety and social standards by working closely with the communities we operate in.”
The 1.8MWp solar plant consists of 3,334 solar panels and has an annual generation capacity of 2.3 GWh and will reduce their carbon emissions by 33,100 tonnes, the equivalent to the CO2 absorbed by more than 64,500 trees.
“With our 1.8MW solar PV plant, we have achieved the first step in reaching our ambitious targets, and we are very proud to do our part to reduce our energy costs while protecting the environment,” Amit Bedi, Managing Director of UAL, said.
Solarise Africa, a pan African energy leasing company for solar PV and other energy assets focusing on Commercial and Industrial (C&I) clients, provided the full-service commercial solution to finance the project.
“This is a very exciting project. With this new solar plant, United Aryan will reduce its electricity costs by an estimated 72% from the first month and will save around US$5.3 million over the course of the lifecycle of the solar plant,” said Sakkie van Wijk, Chief Commercial Officer at Solarise Africa.
“We have been proud to partner with United Aryan on their sustainability journey – from their first move towards sustainable washer systems to this significant shift towards renewable energy, as well as future clean energy expansions.
“We look forward to continuing our support as they grow their operations in an environmentally friendly way.”
The engineering, procurement and construction were managed by Premier Solar Solutions, the Kenyan subsidiary of Starsight Premier Energy Group.
“We are very proud to have been chosen to install UAL’s inaugural solar PV system,” said Rupesh Hindocha, CEO of Starsight Premier Energy Group.
“As we work with UAL to provide clean energy to power both current and future operations, we are confident that the system will deliver the expected benefits, both financial and environmental.”
UAL joins other companies in kenya like EABL and BIO Foods who are shift to solar power systems. Kenya’s electricity provider reported that the growing number of heavy-consuming industrialists seeking reliable and cheaper supply has rattled electricity distributor amid thinning revenues.
The utility firm said some of its industrial customers — who account for about 54.8 percent of its sales revenues — are gradually shifting to own-generated solar power, dealing a further blow to its already dwindling finance.
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