UiTM Holdings renewable energy biz makes foray into commercial sector

UiTM Holdings Sdn Bhd (UHSB) – the investment arm of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) – has diversified its business into commercial sector with the inking of a 21-year solar power purchase agreement (SPPA) with Ingress Corporation Bhd (Ingress) and Ingress Precision Sdn Bhd (IPSB) yesterday.

The agreement reached through its wholly owned subsidiary UiTM Energy & Facilities Sdn Bhd (UEFSB) expands UiTM Holdings portfolio from owning and operating two large scale solar power plants to developing rooftop solar generating facilities in UiTM campuses.

This marks another milestone journey to become one of the nation’s renewable energy powerhouses.

“With the Malaysian Government setting its target for 20% of the country’s electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2025, it is indeed timely for us to be an active participant in the nation’s sustainability goals,” chairman of UHSB Datuk Md Zubir Ansori Yahaya said.

He also hopes that this project will be the first of many similar projects to be developed by the group where the Private SPPA will become more common in the future and acceptance towards green technology especially Solar will ensure the its growth in this sector.

Under the agreement, UEFSB will invest and install solar power generating facilities with a total capacity of 897.26 kilowatt peaks (kWp) and 1224.86kWp at IPSB and ITSB respectively.  

The installation of the solar power generating facilities in ITSB and IPSB is expected to significantly reduce their energy expenditure through sustainable energy generation and Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme, whilst reducing their carbon footprint to support the Nation’s Renewable Energy Agenda.

Cumulatively, the facilities will be able to avoid 42,699 tons of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to planting 50,000 trees. Meanwhile, UEFSB will undertake 100% of the investment as part of the company’s initiatives to grow its Renewable Energy business.

To-recap, the group had previously signed seven SPPA with UiTM in November 2020 to develop and supply a total of 11.057MW solar power generation facilities in seven UiTM campuses in Dungun, Permatang Pauh, Jengka, Kuala Pilah, Alor Gajah, Segamat and Bertam. In addition, the group is currently in the midst of implementing Energy Optimisation and Solar Rooftop (EORS) project at 35 UiTM’s campuses nationwide which is targeted to be completed in Q4 2023.

Upon completion of this project, UiTM can potentially save up to 30% on its annual energy expenditure.

Furthermore, UHSB also owns a 50 MW LSS Plant in Gambang, Pahang and a 25 MW LSS Plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

With total energy generation of 75 MWac from both plants are able to power over 33,000 homes and avoid 84,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year. Also, both plants are generating a total of 120,000 MWh of clean energy per annum and could yield RM965 mil in revenue over 21 years.  – April 1, 2021

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