Italy – Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge has won the Special Award; “Extraordinary Business Case and CSR”, at the official Global Best Practice Awards 2018 ceremony in Milan. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge won this award for using eco-friendly practices in providing professional textile care through sustainable and energy efficient laundry services.
The Global Best Practice Awards was started in year 2016 with the aim of recognizing organizations that have shown ingenuity in business models that meet customer needs in a sustainable manner. Kilaguni Serena Safari lodge is the first lodge in Tsavo National park to implement a fully-fledged solar power plant to provide for its entire power requirements.
The solar power plant is under a 10-year lease contract, consists of 960 solar panels that produces up to 307 kWp and has the capacity to supply Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge’s full energy requirements during normal weather conditions. During adverse weather, additional energy needs are met using synchronised generators which were previously the main source of energy before the commissioning of the solar plant in July 2017.
Abdulkadir Rahim, Group Engineer, Serena Hotels, says, “We are humbled to receive the Global Best Practice Award. This award demonstrates how our journey and efforts to move from fossil based energy to renewable energy sources and effective energy and waste water management has evolved over the years. Incorporating historic energy data insights to our business strategy is one of the key drivers that led us to install the solar power plant. We have also recently installed a solar power plant at the Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge and are committed in replicating this model at the other Serena Hotels properties in Africa.”
As part of its day-to-day operations, Serena Hotels focus on innovative programs that respond to the needs of the environment, economy and communities within which it operates. All Serena’s programs are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set out by the United Nation Development Program. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge solar power plant particularly aligns to “SDG 13 Climate Action” – with the aim of fighting climate change and its effects to the environment.
Dan Chahenza, Lodge Manager at Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge says, “The demand from eco-travelers is growing and Serena continues to adapt its business best practices model to meet the ecological travel experiences and expectations of today’s guest. Despite being remotely located in the park; we have successfully managed to use a clean-renewable source of energy to fully run the lodge operations. This includes supplying the needs of energy intensive functions such as the kitchen and laundry departments without restricting other energy related services for our guests.”
The laundry department uses eco-friendly detergents and the lodge has a bio-digester that recycles all the waste water which is used for irrigation and reafforestation. This goes a long way in protecting the environment which is part of Serena’s philosophy.
According to the solar power plant data records, 467 tons of carbon dioxide has been avoided since the last 15 months of installation. To extract this carbon dioxide from the environment naturally within 10 years 37,399 trees need to be planted. The solar power plants complement the Serena East Africa tree planting initiative that has taken place for over 2 decades.
Tourism Promotion Services (TPS), Hotels offers quality accommodation in a collection of 24 up-market hotels, safari lodges, camps and resorts within 6 countries in the Eastern Africa region (Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique) and 11 properties in Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan). These properties are strategically located to offer exciting circuits for guests in some of the most exquisite and prime locations in Eastern Africa and Asia.
