KUALA LUMPUR: Salcon Bhd has increased its involvement in the country's solar energy sector.
Its subsidiary, Fortune Command Sdn Bhd (FCSB), held through its Renewable Energy (RE) arm, Inergist Sdn has signed a solar power purchase agreement (SPPA) with HeveaBoard Bhd.
Under the SPPA, FCSB will be in charge of establishing a 25-year built-own-operate solar photovoltaic (PV) system with a total capacity of 862.5 kWp on the rooftops of HeveaBoard's particleboard production facilities in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan.
The solar PV system should be fully operational by the first half of 2024. Its goal is to generate around 26.25 million kWh of clean energy during its operational tenure, which is the same as planting over 27,000 trees or reducing average CO2 emissions by over 680 tonnes per year.
Michael Leong, group chief financial officer of Salcon, said: "At Salcon, our unwavering commitment lies in delivering excellence and quality while consistently advancing our pursuit in the field of renewable energy.
"We wish to express our gratitude to HeveaBoard's management team for placing their trust in us since our initial collaboration in 2021, when we partnered for the development of the inaugural solar assets of 1.48 MW at HeveaPac Sdn Bhd," he said in a joint statement.
Yoong Hau Chun, group managing director of HeveaBoard, said with the installation of this latest solar PV system in the company's particleboard manufacturing facility, it will have a total of more than 3.0MWp of solar renewable energy.
Among all the green energy initiatives undertaken by HeveaBoard, solar energy will be the biggest green initiative of the company in terms of electricity savings, he said.
"The utilisation of solar energy will not only lower our operational costs. It will also reduce the carbon footprint in our daily business operations," Yoong said.