Growthpoint Enables Standard Bank Renewable Energy Certificates Across 21 South African Branches

According to Growthpoint, Standard Bank’s participation extends the initiative’s reach and signals growing institutional momentum for certified decarbonisation in South Africa.

Standard Bank will reduce its scope two emissions across 21 branches located in Growthpoint-owned shopping malls and offices in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West provinces.

The properties at which these branches are located include Alberton City, Bayside Mall, N1 City Mall, Howard Centre, Paarl Mall, Longbeach Mall, Westville Mall, La Lucia Mall, Beacon Bay Retail Park, Woodmead Retail Park, River Square, Lakeside Mall, Festival Mall, Key West Shopping Centre, Greenacres Shopping Centre, Walmer Park Shopping Centre, Waterfall Mall, Hillcrest Corner, Vaal Mall, Brooklyn Mall and Newlands on Main.

“Standard Bank is committed to climate stewardship, characterised by adopting environmental best practices in its real estate operations,” a Growthpoint statement said.

“The REC programme is the latest addition to a catalogue of sustainability-driven initiatives starting with an efficiency-first approach.”

Eliminating emissions

Scope two emissions, which stem from purchased grid electricity, are typically the hardest for businesses to reduce in multi-tenanted leased premises without active support from the landlord. Standard Bank’s REC participation helps address this challenge across its branches.

Standard Bank aims to maintain high energy-efficiency standards in the design and operation of its retail branches within its real estate portfolio.

This electricity saving is characterised by LED lighting installations, energy-efficient equipment and optimised operational control enabled through smart meters.

“While tenants can reduce energy consumption, they cannot directly control the electricity supply, posing a challenge against the backdrop of South Africa’s national electricity grid being mostly fossil-fuel powered,” says Growthpoint.

It has designed its REC programme to address this gap directly, creating a practical route for tenants to reduce emissions.

It certifies the renewable energy supplied to its properties through both on-site solar PV and wheeling arrangements with independent power producers. It offers these independently verified RECs to tenants, providing an immediate, auditable route to emission reductions.

The real estate investment company says that, in keeping with the broader market theme of innovation in sustainability, Fuel Switch tracks RECs via its blockchain-enabled platform, the first of its kind in Africa, ensuring full transparency and global recognition under the International Renewable Energy Certificate (I-REC) standard.

Growthpoint says its REC programme offers tenants practical ways to reduce emissions and shows how building owners and tenant businesses can collaborate to deliver meaningful reductions and build a low-carbon future.

Renewable energy projects

Of its 53 renewable energy systems registered for RECs, including generation from the Boston Hydroelectric Plant, 50 are currently active REC-generating projects, and 13 more are undergoing registry onboarding.

Since registering its first renewable energy asset for RECs, Growthpoint has generated 69,613 RECs, of which 50,345 have been redeemed to support its portfolio decarbonisation strategy, including the GBCSA Net Zero Carbon certification of 13 of its properties.

Growthpoint has also transferred a further 6,670 RECs to tenants to support their scope two decarbonisation objectives.

Alongside its on-site generation, Growthpoint is scaling renewable energy wheeling across its property portfolio through its long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Etana Energy. This expansion supports broader renewable supply across its properties.

When fully implemented by 2028, the agreement will provide 195GWh of renewable electricity annually to Growthpoint’s properties.

With around 11% of the committed PPA electricity currently being wheeled, Growthpoint has enabled renewable energy wheeling to 43 properties and will continue to expand this footprint as a sustainable mix of renewable hydro, wind and solar capacity comes online under the PPA.

Incidentally, the Standard Bank Group has provided financing and investment facilities to Etana Energy.

As this renewably generated electricity comes online, and as Growthpoint pilots new green energy innovations such as the pooled wheeling currently being scaled with Etana Energy and the City of Cape Town, more RECs will become available to help its tenants achieve certified emissions reductions.