SM Prime builds Xiamen’s first solar-powered mall

MANILA, Philippines - SM Prime Holdings Inc., the Philippines’ largest mall developer and operator, is venturing into several energy efficiency measures for its malls in China.

The renewable energy projects are part of the company’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and optimize energy efficiency in its malls, SM Prime said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

SM Prime has completed the $2-million, 1.1-megawatt rooftop solar power project in SM Xiamen, the first of its kind in Xiamen in China’s Fujian province.

“SM Prime is constantly in pursuit of the highest level of operational efficiency. We want to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs by minimizing electricity consumption,” said SM Prime president Hans T. Sy.

The mall developer said it installed 3,740 solar panels worth 13.2 million renminbi or $2 million on the roof of SM City Xiamen Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Average generated electricity of the project is estimated at 1.1 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year. Total electricity to be generated in the projects’s 25-year life cycle will be approximately 27.5 million kwh.

Aside from SM City Xiamen, SM Prime also put up a thermal energy storage plant in SM City Jinjiang. It allows the company to significantly reduce the mall’s utility and energy bills through the ice-based cooling system.

“In line with (energy efficiency measures), we place strong emphasis in investing in the latest innovations in sustainable and energy efficient technology,” Sy said.

SM Prime operates 47 malls in the Philippines with a combined gross floor area of 5.9 million square meters (sqm).

By end-2013, SM Prime will have 48 malls in the Philippines and five in China, with an estimated combined gross floor area of 6.9 million sqm. given the opening of SM City BF Parañaque and expansion of SM Megamall.

SM Prime will become the largest integrated property developer in Southeast Asia as the umbrella firm of the SM Group’s property businesses.

Late in May, parent firm SM Investments Corp. consolidated shopping mall developer SM Prime, residential builder SM Development Corp., private firm SM Land Inc. and upscale Tagaytay Highlands developer Highlands Prime Inc. in a P279-billion transaction.

The country’s largest mall builder posted a 15-percent growth in profits to P2.79 billion in the first quarter on the back of robust consumer spending.