KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Tesco Malaysia has announced that 15 out of its 62 stores nationwide will be powered by solar. According to Tesco, they have entered into the largest long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for solar energy in Malaysia with NE Suria Satu Sdn Bhd (NESS), a joint-venture company of Petronas and NEFIN Group. NESS will be installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the rooftops of 15 Tesco stores nationwide in the first phase and the agreement will run for 20 years until 2040.

The installation at the 15 outlets is expected to be completed in October 2020. The solar PV panels will collectively generate about 18-gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy each year. This translates to a reduction of approximately 13,624 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It is also mentioned that the power generated from the solar PV panels is sufficient to light up as many as 104 Olympic-sized stadiums simultaneously or 804,905 three-bedroom homes for a full year.

Under the PPA, NESS will fully invest in the 15 solar PV projects including the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the solar PV systems. They have appointed Solarvest as its local Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor for this project. The 15 stores that will be fitted with solar PV panels include:

Tesco Mergong

Tesco Sungai Petani Selatan

Tesco Bukit Mertajam

Tesco Rawan

Tesco Ipoh

Tesco Station 18

Tesco Klang

Tesco Puchong

Tesco Bukit Puchong

Tesco Extra Seremban Jaya

Tesco Kulim

Tesco Stargate

Tesco Seberang Jaya

Tesco Jitra

Tesco Kampar

Tesco CEO Paul Ritchie said “The installation of the solar PV panels in 15 out of 62 of our stores is the first phase in Tesco’s renewable energy push. Eventually, we will be able to generate clean, renewable energy at most of our stores and in the process, reduce our carbon emissions. This push in environmental sustainability is just one of the many ways that we are doing to reduce our impact on the environment, which already includes measuring and publishing our food waste data and reducing the usage of single-use plastic bags in our stores.”

Tesco has also shared that the solar project will support its parent company, Tesco Group’s goal of becoming a zero-carbon business by 2050.

NESS’ Director and Head of Petronas New Energy Dr Jay Mariyappan said, “We are honoured to be awarded Tesco’s first solar project in Malaysia. With the collective capabilities of Petronas and NEFIN, we are confident that we will be able to support Tesco in realising its sustainability goals which ultimately will benefit all of us. This is also in line with our aspiration to be the leading cleaner energy solutions provider.”

NESS is a joint venture between Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s subsidiary for its New Energy business in Malaysia, Petronas Power Sdn Bhd and NEFINCO Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a member of the NEFIN Group. Petronas New Energy is Petronas’ renewable business that currently includes M+ which has more than 50MW of solar solutions under development covering commercial and industrial customers in Malaysia. Its 100 per cent owned distributed energy company, Amplus Energy Solutions has more than 650MW of operating and under construction solar projects located in India and Dubai. Meanwhile, NEFIN Group was founded by the core management team of DuPont Solar Business and has collectively delivered over 300MW of utility-scale, commercial and industrial rooftop solar systems regionally. — SoyaCincau