By: Noor Eszereen Juferi
Photo by: Sabri Omar
SERDANG, Jan 6 - Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) – GSPARX Sdn. Bhd. signed a Supply Agreement with Renewable Energy Collaboration for the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system project for IPTA, which took place today, January 6, 2022, around 2.30 pm, at the Auditorium Jurutera Radin Umar, Faculty of Engineering, UPM.
Secretary-General, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Dato' Seri Abdul Razak Jaafar and Chairman of UPM Board of Directors, Dato' Seri Diraja Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail, were present to witness the signing ceremony of the agreement.
Also present at the event were TNB Chairman, Dato' Sri Hasan Arifin and TNB Chief Retail Officer, Datuk Ir. Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan.
UPM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Mohd Roslan Sulaiman, said the implementation of the solar PV project was the largest solar rooftop system installation project among public universities.
"UPM is also the pioneer for the installation of a floating solar panel on the lake known as AQUAVOLTAICS, which is the First Large Scale Integrated Hydroponic-Aquavoltaic project cum Eco-Tourism in the World," he said.
He added that this is in line with the direction of the university through the UPM Strategic Plan 2021-2025, which emphasises the elements of sustainability in research and innovation as well as the strengthening of industry and community relations.
"UPM as the most sustainable university in Malaysia for 12 consecutive years in the UI-GreenMetric World University Ranking 2021 will continue to be committed to supporting sustainability efforts," he said.
Meanwhile, the installation of solar systems at 16 sites, including the mosque, solar parking and lake with no upfront cost and a solar system with a capacity of 16.18 MWp, is expected to save RM114 million in electricity bills within 25 years.
The solar panel installation work is expected to be completed by July 2022.
UPM also took a proactive step by establishing a committee that aimed to study and analyse the effectiveness of the implementation of the solar project in UPM from the financial, technical and research aspects known as SURIA Task Force, where SURIA is an acronym for Solar for University's Research and Investment Accelerations. - UPM
