Absa is planning to equip 128 branches across SA with solar power over the next three years to reduce its reliance on Eskom’s failing power grid amid worsening load-shedding and a worldwide push for businesses to adopt more sustainable business practices.
SA’s fourth-biggest bank by market value has identified 81 priority sites it wants to equip with photovoltaic solar panels over the next six to 12 months and is exploring other renewable energy alternatives such as fuel cell technology, power wall technology and UPS lithium batteries.
Absa’s renewable energy push comes after a pilot project in the North West in which it fitted the roof of its Klerksdorp branch with solar panels after it was severely affected by load-shedding.
“We’re forging ahead and laying the ground work for renewable energy. There’s a moral and social imperative, but the business case for the viability of this initiative is also a no-brainer,” Reyhana Satar, the head of capital projects at Absa’s retail and business bank, said in an interview.
“We need more corporates doing this because there’s a greater good in us all collectively looking for alternatives to support the green energy agenda.”
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research data on load-shedding shows SA experienced 530 hours of planned power cuts in 2019. In 2020, the hours of planned load-shedding jumped 62% to 859 hours (about 36 days, or 10% of the year), despite much of the economy being shut down for months due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
SA is on track to notch up a record number of power cuts in 2022, with Eskom saying it needs between 4,000MW and 6,000MW of additional generating capacity to keep the lights on while conducting maintenance on its ageing fleet.
Branches that will be among the first tranche of 81 priority sites include Florida, Laudium and Park Station in Gauteng.
Satar said there was less need in the Western Cape as the province is supported by the Koeberg nuclear power station, making it less vulnerable to the vagaries of Eskom’s grid that supplies the rest of the country.
Among the challenges Absa faces in its quest to equip branches with solar energy are negotiations with landlords and municipalities as well as rapid changes in technology.
Nevertheless, the bank has applied to the National Energy Regulator of SA and Eskom to sell excess power back into the grid once its renewable energy plans are expanded.
It also wants to reduce its group-wide energy consumption 30% by 2030 and wants at least a third of its branch network to achieve green building certification by that year. Absa is looking at other renewable energy sources and is running two pilot projects in the Eastern Cape, which sees it purchasing renewably sourced megawatts from a third party vendor called PowerX.
“We’re looking at a multipronged approach towards achieving sustainability,” said Satar, adding that the bank’s focus on renewable energy forms part of a more holistic environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda focused on “touching the planet lightly”.
Satar said Absa’s broader ESG initiatives include sourcing more products from local manufacturers, particularly those that produce from sustainable sources. One example is procuring furniture made from recycled wood shavings.
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