By NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has started to generate power from solar energy at four of the group’s assets to increase its energy efficiency drive while reducing carbon emissions via its New Energy business strategy. 

Petronas’ new energy head Dr Jay Mariyappan said the deployment of solar energy at the group’s assets forms part of the national oil company’s (NOC) journey towards net zero carbon emissions (NCZE) by 2050.

“While we have an active role in powering businesses with clean energy, we are cognisant the transformative effort should also start at our home ground.

“In this regard, we will be using our very own M+ by Petronas solar solution for the installations, where we integrate high-quality systems and products that we’ve provided for our customers across the world,” he noted in a statement yesterday. 

He added that the move would help power the group’s assets with a reliable supply of solar energy for decades to come, whilst optimising performance using the Hawk AI Data Monitoring System it currently offers. 

Under its rollout, four of Petronas’ assets will be installed with ground-mounted and rooftop solar systems by this year and will see a combined capacity of over 66 megawatts-peak (MWp) to help the group achieve reductions of 58,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum. 

The move includes the completed 8.33MWp solar rooftop installation at Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd’s yard in Pasir Gudang, Johor, and 7.3MWp solar rooftop installation at Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Seri Iskandar, Perak, which is on track for its completion by end of 2021. 

Other two projects in the pipeline include a 49MWp ground-mounted and rooftop solar installation at Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor, which is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2022, and a 1.4MWp solar rooftop installation at Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (INSTEP) in Terengganu. 

There will be an additional 5kWP solar training system installed at INSTEP to enable students with hands-on experiential learning in addition to the renewable energy modules and products the institute offers. 

The combined installed solar power capacity at four of its assets can generate enough energy to power over 20,000 households, the NOC noted.