Bidco plans 1.2MW solar plant to cut expensive power costs
What you need to know:
Bidco, which manufactures edible oils, cooking fats, soaps, and detergents, looks to save millions of shillings in power costs annually with the installation of 3,920 solar panels on rooftops of its buildings.
Construction of the plant is set to start in June and will take six months to complete.
Bidco, which is constructing a Sh4 billion soft drinks plant in Thika, currently generates 70 per cent of it energy needs from sawdust, macadamia husks and other agricultural waste through co-generation.
Consumer goods manufacturer Bidco Africa plans to construct a 1.2 megawatt (MW) solar plant at its headquarters in Thika in a bid to cut its energy costs.
Bidco, which manufactures edible oils, cooking fats, soaps, and detergents, looks to save millions of shillings in power costs annually with the installation of 3,920 solar panels on rooftops of its buildings.
Construction of the plant is set to start in June and will take six months to complete.
“We have plenty of rooftop space available and this project can put our energy situation in our own hands, at an affordable price, which is a fantastic position to be in,” Bidco chief executive Vimal Shah said in a statement without indicating project cost.
The project is also set to shrink the company’s carbon footprint as emissions drop.
Bidco, which is constructing a Sh4 billion soft drinks plant in Thika, currently generates 70 per cent of it energy needs from sawdust, macadamia husks and other agricultural waste through co-generation.
The solar energy, priced at between Sh6 and Sh7 per kilowatt hour (kWh) will be for Bidco’s exclusive use.
At Sh7 ($0.07), the solar plant electricity is about the same price as geothermal energy and about three times cheaper than diesel generated power.
The manufacturer now joins companies like Centum Investment which is constructing a 2 MW solar plant to power its Two Rivers Development-- a Nairobi-based real estate project that is designed to host the largest shopping mall in the East and Central Africa region.
Sh650 million savings
Garden City Mall on Nairobi’s Thika Road launched a solar carport last September that generates part of the electricity consumed at the shopping complex. Strathmore University has installed solar panels with a capacity of 0.6 MW.
Bidco’s solar project will be developed by Astonfield Solar.
Companies developing solar plants in the country include Kenyan firms Kopere Solar Park and Kenya Solar Energy, each with an installed capacity of 40 MW to be injected to the national grid.
Others are UK firm Solarcentury, Green Energy Africa and Greenmillenia Energy.
“The 1.2 megawatt-peak (MWp) capacity project will generate over 1.8 million kilowatt hours (kWh) and deliver power at half the grid cost saving Bidco about Sh650 million over its 25-year life cycle,” says Bidco.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
