Growthpoint Properties’ Solar Shift: Greener Energy for South African Real Estate

At ACES Renewables, we’re proud to partner with leading property owners to support their transition to clean energy. One of our flagship projects in the commercial sector has been our collaboration with Growthpoint Properties in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we delivered a grid-tied solar rollout across four buildings with a total installed capacity of 473 kW.

Aligning Cost Savings with ESG Goals

Our partnership with Growthpoint emerged from their need to reduce operational costs while delivering on ambitious ESG goals. With rising electricity prices, solar presented a clear opportunity to cut costs, ensure more stable supply, and position their properties as more sustainable offerings to tenants. Importantly, Growthpoint also anticipates increased pressure from large corporate tenants who will need to manage their carbon footprints. By investing in green energy now, they’re able to support their tenants’ own decarbonisation goals while preparing for future carbon tax obligations.

Site Selection and System Design

When planning this first phase, we prioritised four buildings selected for their immediate consumption needs and available roof space. While all sites were installed simultaneously to simplify the rollout, each system was designed based on specific consumption profiles and structural requirements. System sizes varied, with the largest site at approximately 280 kW and the smallest at around 47 kW.

A key technical feature of this rollout was our choice to use Tier-1 Equipment. This ensured that our client gets the best and latest technology while benefiting from high system efficiency and OEM support. To ensure the roof structures could handle the load, all roofs were carefully assessed and signed off by structural engineers. We worked closely with them to reduce weight wherever possible, for example, by specifying aluminium short-rails and streamlining the design to keep costs and material use in check.

Engineering for Efficiency and Savings

Our engineering team also optimised system sizing for each building’s consumption profile. Given that these are grid-tied systems, our design focus was on reducing monthly utility costs without over-generating. The result has been highly effective, achieving an average of 85% monthly performance ratio across the sites and delivering around 35% cost savings on monthly electricity bills for Growthpoint.

Project Delivery and Overcoming Challenges

From planning to commissioning, the entire project took roughly six months. One of the main challenges we encountered was securing alignment with certain tenants who don’t own the systems themselves and initially had reservations. We addressed these concerns through open engagement, ensuring everyone understood the benefits.

ACES Renewables handled the full EPC scope for this project: engineering, procurement, and construction. This approach is one of our strengths as it allows us to maintain full quality control and ensure that every aspect of the system meets our standards. We also provide an energy production guarantee and conduct annual performance reviews with our clients. That level of accountability has helped us establish ourselves as a trusted partner for Growthpoint and others, because we don’t just sell technology, we stand behind the systems we build for decades to come.

Laying the Groundwork for Future Expansion

Growthpoint has been satisfied with the results so far. The systems have performed well over the first year of operation, meeting expectations and demonstrating the clear business case for solar in commercial real estate. Our ongoing service-level agreements reflect the strength of our relationship. This project has laid a solid foundation for continued collaboration as Growthpoint looks to expand their solar capacity in future phases, supporting even more of their portfolio with clean, reliable energy.

For us at ACES Renewables, this partnership is also an important milestone in our broader mission to support South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon future. By helping major property owners like Growthpoint reduce costs and emissions, we’re not only delivering practical solutions to today’s energy challenges but also building a more sustainable, resilient commercial property sector for tomorrow.

If you'd like to know more about our commercial property solutions, or discuss how we can help you reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, get in touch with our team. We’d be delighted to share what we’ve learned and help you design the right approach for your business.

ACES Renewables is a premier provider of renewable energy solutions across Africa. With over 15 years of experience, we are driving the continent’s energy transition through innovative and sustainable clean energy solutions.

Our expertise spans end-to-end project execution, including engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC), energy optimisation, and advanced storage solutions. With a proven track record and strong local partnerships, ACES Renewables delivers scalable projects that address Africa’s growing energy needs while promoting environmental sustainability and economic growth.

By consistently demonstrating the success and impact of our projects, ACES Renewables is attracting forward-thinking investors eager to participate in Africa’s energy future, creating jobs, uplifting the local communities, improving health and cleaning the environment.  Our strategic vision and commitment to excellence position us as a trusted partner for those seeking to contribute to a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous continent.

‍