Wernhil Shopping Centre, a property of Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group subsidiary, Broll Namibia, officially put their newly installed carport solar photovoltaic (PV) system to use.

This solar system is capable of producing 2,108,700 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually. It forms part of the second Phase of Wernhil’s solar installations, with Phase I being its 1.13 Megawatts-peak (MWp) rooftop solar PV plant installed in 2019.

Phase I and II were engineered and installed by O&L Nexentury, Phase II, with Kraatz Engineering as sub-contractor.

Bernd Walbaum, O&L Nexentury Managing Director (MD), expressed his excitement about the launch of this special carport PV system which is now the 11th solar PV plant that O&L Nexentury developed and built within the O&L Group. “The advanced bifacial solar PV panel technology of the system enables the capturing of sunlight on both sides of the panels, unlike their monofacial counterparts. The system comprises 1,517 Canadian Solar modules and nine high-tech inverters, creating a PV capacity of 990-kilowatt peak (kWp). Besides these projects, there are further interesting renewable energy projects in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, West Africa and Germany,” Walbaum said.

Terence Makari, Broll Namibia MD, shared his approval of the completion of Phase II: “We recognise our collective responsibility to address climate change urgently, and this plant will greatly support us as we continue to reduce our carbon footprint by shifting to sustainable energy sources. Thanks to this installation, we can expect a reduction in our carbon dioxide emissions of about 2100 tons per year and savings of an estimated N$1.28 million in the plant’s first year. I thank our technical teams at O&L Nexentury and Kraatz Engineering for their expertise and quality construction. I am also grateful to my colleagues at Broll Namibia and O&L Group leadership for their commitment to a greener future as part of our greater Group Purpose of ‘Creating a future, enhancing life.”