The SM Mall of Asia (MoA) in Pasay City used to have the biggest solar roof deck among SM shopping malls. Its 10,426 solar panels generate 2.7 million watts or 2.7 megawatts (MW), which can power up about 112 households consuming 1,000 watts of electricity for 24 hours.

SM City Santa Rosa has surpassed the size of MoA’s solar roof deck eight years ago and is now the biggest renewable energy (RE) producer among SM malls.

There are now 87 SM shopping malls nationwide, 34 of which are producing a combined 44 MW of electricity, said Engr. Teodoro S. Bautista, vice president for operations of SM Engineering Design and Development Corp., when he received the first Sustainable Energy Award (SEA) for private institutions from the Department of Energy (DoE) on 12 December. He predicted that if the number of SM malls reach 100, they can produce 100 MW of power.

“As one of the leading integrated property developers in the Philippines, SM Prime Holdings has always endeavored to operate sustainably in all its malls. It always aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable energy,” Bautista said.

Meanwhile, the DoE also awarded ACEN Corporation under the RE projects in on-grid areas category for its 81-MW North Luzon Renewables (NLR) wind project in Caparispisan, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

After receiving the SEA trophy from DoE officials, Eric Francia, president and CEO of ACEN Corporation, said the award is special coming at the 10th year of the project which was very challenging as they had to build the longest transmission line of 60 kilometers under a tight deadline.

“Not only that did this special project enabled 81 megawatts. It has already enabled more than four times, more than 300 megawatts of renewable power in Ilocos Norte, serving the whole of the country,” Francia said.

He made a fearless forecast.

“We’re not only enabling three or 400 megawatts of solar plants, we will enable three or four gigawatts of solar plant with battery storage providing clean, reliable and, hopefully, by that time, very affordable power,” he said.

Aside from providing clean energy, the NLR wind farm has been protecting 700 hectares of forest through the company’s conservation estate.

“We’re not only about scaling up renewables but it has to be done in a sustainable manner, truly integrated with the communities that we serve, taking care of our immediate environment whether it’s the forest protection which you have seen in the video, preserving the biodiversity or enhancing the biodiversity and touching the lives of the communities that we interact with through better livelihood and education,” he said.

The DoE’s first SEA is dedicated to highlighting and recognizing the sustainable initiatives and best practices of stakeholders that have been instrumental in advancing RE in the country.