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CLHG harnesses the sunThe City Lodge Hotel Group (CLHG) is undertaking a large-scale solar project for the group at 25 of its 60 hotels. This follows a successful pilot study at the 118-room Road Lodge Centurion in Pretoria, which has a 50kWp (Kilowatt peak) generation system installed on the roof. The roll-out will result in nearly 4,250 solar panels being installed at 24 hotels in South Africa and one hotel in Namibia, with a combined energy output of approximately 1.45 megawatts of power. The full installation will cost approximately R20m. The panels have an expected lifespan of 30 years. ![]() The successful installation of solar panels at the 118-room Road Lodge Centurion has resulted in large-scale solar panel installations at 25 of the group’s hotels, due to be completed by end-2019. The solar installation project will be completed towards the end of 2019 and is one of the most widespread ventures of its kind undertaken by a hotel group in South Africa. Once completed, these solar panels will generate approximately 10% of the entire group’s energy requirements. ![]() At a CLHG site visit of the successful pilot study of solar panel installation at the 118-room Road Lodge Centurion are (back, from left): Emile van der Merwe, head of property and development; Ross Phinn, divisional director: operations; Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, chief operations officer; Anton Potgieter, Energy Resource Optimizers; Alastair Dooley, chief financial officer; (front, from left); Tony Balabanoff, divisional director: operations; and Mariska Von Richter, general manager of Road Lodge Improving energy and water efficiency is a long-term environmental commitment by the group, and since 2011 CLHG has consistently reduced its absolute energy consumption by almost 40%, even while the hotel footprint has grown. CLHG was a runner-up in the Eskom eta Awards in 2013, an awards programme that recognises exceptional efforts in the efficient use of energy, which in turn benefits the environment. ![]() Alastair Dooley, chief financial officer at CLHG, hails the upcoming large-scale solar installation project as a significant milestone for the group as it enters a new era in renewable power generation. “We are incredibly proud of the group’s achievements with regards to energy conservation over the years. This is a significant milestone for us as we enter a new era in renewable power generation, and a positive step towards our own business and environmental sustainability,” says Alastair Dooley, chief financial officer at CLHG.
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