TWO MORE shopping malls of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. will soon utilize solar energy following the inauguration of the mall developer’s first solar rooftop project in SM City North EDSA yesterday.

Anna Maria S. Garcia, president of Shopping Center Management Corp. (SM Supermalls), said SM Prime will also install solar-powered rooftops at SM City Dasmariñas in Cavite and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

“In essence, SM Dasmariñas will have 3,243 panels that can produce 0.8 megawatts (MW) and SM Mall of Asia will have 10,534 panels for a total of 2.7 MW,” Ms. Garcia told reporters on the sidelines of the switching ceremony held in Quezon City.

Asked about the timeline, Ms. Garcia said: “We are already working on Dasmariñas and that will be ready by May 2015. For Mall of Asia, we hope before the end of 2015.”

The company official said SM Prime will still partner with Solar Philippines Commercial Rooftop Projects, Inc. — the same developer of its first solar rooftop project in the Philippines.

SM Prime’s first solar-powered mall is SM City Xiamen in Fujian, China. 

The mall has a 1.1-MW rooftop project that was launched in July last year.

Yesterday, SM Prime and Solar Philippines launched the 1.5-MW solar project that will provide a portion of SM North EDSA’s power needs.

Ms. Garcia said the project is part of SM Group’s commitment to achieve sustainability in its operations. The project involved 5,760 solar panels that could offset 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide.

“With a capacity of 1.5 MW, all 16,000 lighting fixtures, 59 escalators and 20 elevators of the mall can be powered up,” she added.

Ms. Garcia noted the facility could generate up to P20 million in savings.

Solar Philippines claimed that SM North EDSA is now the world’s biggest solar-powered mall.

“The cost of the project is approximately P100-120 million,” Solar Philippines Founder Leandro L. Leviste told reporters.

“SM took a bet that solar was ready for large-scale adoption. This SM North EDSA project is just the beginning,” he added.

For his part, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III said: “The use of renewable energy sources represents a long-term investment.”

“It plays to our country’s strengths, provides insulation from fluctuations in the international oil market and thus allows us to be more self-sufficient, generates savings in terms of electricity costs, and also contributes to the preservation of the environment and mitigates the effects of climate change,” Mr. Aquino said in his speech.

“In the long term, our goal remains the same: to ensure a reliable, preferably clean and reasonably priced, power supply. We are on our way towards achieving that goal.”