By MYRNA M. VELASCO
Spectrum, a subsidiary of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), has designed and installed the 1.2-megawatt solar power facility of the City of Dreams Manila, one of the integrated luxury resort and casino of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited in the country.
The energy facility, which comprises of 3,120 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that could then generate up to 2,000 megawatt-hours annually, commanded an investment of ₱76 million, according to the luxury resort firm. It is the single largest installation in a commercial rooftop.
The company said the solar rooftop’s generation capacity “would be equivalent to the average electricity consumption of more than 7,000 typical households.”
And for the environment’s sake, the installation will result in carbon emissions reduction of 1,000 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, which in tangible terms could be equal to more than 270 passenger cars – or the amount of CO2 emissions sequestered from 1,500 acres (or 600 hectares) of planted trees each year.
As noted by City of Dreams Manila Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Benning, “this venture is a significant step in our vision to be sustainable in our operations.”
He emphasized that “utilizing clean and renewable energy is only one of our numerous green initiatives and we hope that as we set the bar for sustainable operations, we also inspire positive change as we all take part in the growing movement towards a more sustainable future.”
On the part of Meralco, Spectrum President and CEO Victor S. Genuino, who is also the utility firm’s first vice president and head of Customer Retail Services and Customer Care, has highlighted that the company’s partnership with City of Dreams sets a new benchmark as “the single largest installation in a commercial rooftop.”
Genuino said this is an initiative geared toward helping a customer save on its electricity consumption, which could be an anti-thesis of what power utilities should strive for, but he noted that Meralco and Spectrum viably go along with shifting trends that will be beneficial to customers.
“Our customers are evolving. They are becoming more conscious of their impact to diminishing resources – and they want to do something about it,” the Meralco executive stressed.
Genuino cited that “business partners, like City of Dreams Manila, are a prime example of this rising social involvement by integrating sustainability into their business DNA.”
Spectrum is the renewable energy solutions subsidiary of Meralco, and since its inception in 2016, the company had already served varied portfolio of customers – often the largest enterprises in the country, such as Robinsons Land Corporation, Vista Malls, International Rice Research Institute, Toyota Motor Philippines’ Sta. Rosa plant and Metro Drug.
By far, Spectrum indicated that it is single biggest installation to date had been the ground-mounted solar solution of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation at its facility in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.