1 Utama Goes Green With Their Newly Installed Solar Panels
Powering the future today.
By Syazwan Bahri — 17 Apr 2024, 04:35 PM
1 Utama is embracing sustainability by harnessing the power of the sun for its daily operations
The mall operator has appointed Solarvest Holdings Bhd to set up solar photovoltaic panels across approximately 273,300 square feet of the mall's rooftop and carpark, marking the largest on-site installation of its kind in a Malaysian mall.
These panels are expected to produce over 5,700kW-peak of renewable energy to supply power to the mall, as jointly announced by Bandar Utama City Centre and Solarvest on Monday.
Solarvest will oversee the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning tasks for installing the system
The company has conducted site studies to identify the most cost-effective capacity required to fulfil the mall's energy requirements.
Solarvest executive director and group chief executive officer Davis Chong Chun Shiong emphasised the growing interest in adopting clean energy, especially among commercial and industrial entities.
"Our expanded tender book in Malaysia, from 1.6GW last year to 2.8GW this year, underscores the acceleration of clean energy adoption," he said in a statement recently.
Lee Li Lian, the senior manager of public relations and sustainability at 1 Utama, said that the installation of the solar power system is a significant step towards achieving the mall's environmental, social, and governance goals, as well as its aim of becoming a zero energy building.
"With solar energy being a reliable and responsible source of electricity, we look forward to implementing more projects in the future to reduce energy consumption and optimise resources," she said.
Solar energy has massive potential in Malaysia
Since 2011, the energy generated from all solar installations in Malaysia has surged dramatically, increasing by 1,000 times from 2MW to 2,657.15MW as of August this year. This growth has been supported by various government initiatives.
One key initiative is the Feed-in Tariff, which started in 2011. Under this programme, solar photovoltaic owners are able to sell the electricity they generate to the national grid at a fixed price. This has spurred a rapid increase in solar panel installations across the country.
