SM mall cuts carbon footprint with 3,672 solar panels

Shopping mall developer SM Prime continues to help the country achieve the 35 percent renewable energy goal by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 as it completed the installation of 3,672 solar panels at the rooftop of the MOA Square building in the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

MOA Square is the building located between the SMX Convention Center Manila and SM Mall of Asia Arena. It houses the IKEA furniture shop.

The said photovoltaic (PV) panels installed by SM Prime partner TotalEnergies are expected to reduce the building’s carbon footprint by about 1,430 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually through the generation of 3,000 megawatthour of electricity yearly. That also translates to huge cost savings for the SM Mall of Asia.

John Nai Peng Ong, SM Prime chief finance officer, said the MOA Square’s rooftop solar panels are in line with its commitment to sustainability and achieving Net Zero by 2040.

“Together (with TotalEnergies), we’re driving meaningful change towards a more environmentally conscious future,” Ong said.

Elodie Renaud, managing director of TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation Asia, called the project “a significant achievement in both environmental and economic sustainability for SM Prime.”

To date, SM Prime currently sources at least 50 percent of its electricity utilization from clean, renewable energy.

Its SM City Santa Rosa’s rooftop solar system is the largest of its kind with 5,772 PV panels with 3.099 megawattpeak capacity that can generate 4.3 gigawatthours per year.