Solar photovoltaic (“PV”) system specialist, Solarvest Holdings Berhad has secured a contract from Southern Cable Group Berhad to install a rooftop solar PV system on its cable and wires manufacturing facility in Kuala Ketil, Kedah.
Under the contract, Solarvest will undertake the full turnkey engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (“EPCC”) works for a 2.7 megawatt-peak (MWp) rooftop solar PV system. The solar PV system will be equipped with Southern Cable’s in-house manufactured cables and wires, which are currently the only locally-produced products that are certified by TÜV SÜD for use in solar PV systems.
The rooftop solar PV system will generate over 3.8 million kilowatt-hour of clean energy and off-set approximately 2,624 tonnes carbon emissions annually. For illustration, the clean energy that will be produced by Southern Cable is equivalent to taking off 10.1 million km car mileage from the road annually. The project is expected to complete by end of May 2021. Thereafter, Solarvest will provide operations and maintenance, via its Solarvest’s PowerTrack™ service, for the rooftop solar plant for a period of three years.
Group Chief Executive Officer of Solarvest, Davis Chong Chun Shiong said, “We are pleased to support leading companies such like Southern Cable in the adoption of green energy solutions and its quest to achieve better energy cost savings and reduce the carbon footprint in their operations.”
“Additionally, for this project, we would be using Southern Cable’s PV cables and wires, which are currently the only locally-produced offering to be certified by TÜV SÜD. This project would thus serve as an opportune reference site for us, and we look forward to work closely with Southern Cable in our upcoming projects.”
“We believe having locally manufactured products provide more options to the industry players and improves the ecosystem of the renewable energy sector. The increase in local participations in the supply chain is encouraging as it signals the robust potentials of solar PV market here. The growth of solar PV industry in Malaysia has been phenomenal in the recent years. We expect the uptake trend to remain upward as more corporates are increasing its efforts in fulfilling its environment, social and governance goals,” he added.
Managing Director of Southern Cable Group Berhad, Tung Eng Hai said, “As our operations require a large amount of energy, the solar PV system by Solarvest would provide us significant cost savings in the long run.”
“We are excited to work with Solarvest to expand our TÜV SÜD certified cables and wires’ reach in the solar PV industry. We believe that this is a step forward in not only expanding our presence in the rapidly growing domestic solar PV industry, but also making our cables and wires highly viable as import substitutes.”
“We also look forward to contribute and play a part in realising the Malaysian Government’s target of 20% renewable energy capacity mix, by powering up more solar PV systems with our locally-produced cables and wires.”
According to the Energy Commission’s Report on Peninsular Malaysia Generation Development Plan 2019 (2020 – 2030), in order for Malaysia to achieve its target of 20% renewable energy capacity mix by 2025, it would require 2,172MW of new solar capacity to be developed starting from 2020 alongside other initiatives.
This would be backed by various government initiatives to support solar PV installations. Among the initiatives are Net Energy Metering (NEM), New Enhanced Dispatch Agreement (NEDA), Supply Agreement of Renewable Energy (SARE), Tax Incentives for Green Technology Project and Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Programme.
