Petronas Solar PV project wins Asean Energy Award 2013

Earlier this year, I posted about ASEAN Energy Award 2013 program to reward individuals and organisations that promote the implementation of renewable energy (RE) in Asean nations.

For the Malaysian sub-sector, SEDA was the coordinator and owners/managers of the better managed RE installations get to compete at the regional level. Our strong contender, Petronas, won one of the trophies at the ASEAN Energy Award 2013 ceremony in Bali, Indonesia last month.


The solar PV installed on the rooftop of Suria KLCC. Photo: de engineur


Petronas' rooftop solar PV emerged 2nd place

PETRONAS’ Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project which has been installed on Suria KLCC shopping mall rooftop emerged as first runner-up in the Commercial Based On-Grid Category of the ASEAN Energy Award 2013.

The project, which was PETRONAS’ first venture into renewable energy, uses six different types of solar technologies with the objective to study and identify a solar technology that applies well with the Malaysia’s climate.


Apart from the rooftop solar PV, the shopping mall is also decorated with greenery. Photo: de engineur


The 685 kWp system installed on the 9,000 square-meter rooftop is able to generate power capacity up to 600 megawatt hours per year. This is equivalent to generating clean energy for 250 typical Malaysian households annually with an average consumption of 50,000 kilowatt hours each month.

The clean energy generated from the system currently supplies 30% of Suria KLCC’s energy requirement. It also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission by approximately 360 tonnes carbon dioxide (CO2) annually.

The Solar PV Project signifies PETRONAS’ commitment towards sustainable development and paves the way for it to explore opportunities in green and renewable energy.

The winner of the Commercial Based On-Grid Category of the ASEAN Energy Award 2013 was the Sathingphra District in Songkla Province, Thailand for its electricity-generating wind turbine project.

The Asean Energy Award 2013 received 18 participations from across ASEAN countries vying for recognition for their outstanding works in renewable energy and best energy efficiency practices.


Source: Bernama

Petronas Twin Towers

There are few things I really wanted to do before 2011 closes its door, two of them being watching the Formula 1 race in Malaysia or Singapore, and to 'scale' the famous Twin Towers of Petronas. Not to literally scale it the spider way; visiting the observation deck would be more definitive.

Cut the story short, I managed to catch Michael Schumacher - my all time favourite race king - in action at Malaysian GP Sepang in April 2011. The race was won by another German tho in Sebastian Vettel, a fast improving no-nonsense young driver.

Petronas Twin Towers was more of an elusive target as I failed to gain entry in my first two attempts - once in December 2010 and another in April 2011. On both occasions, tickets were sold out and I could not make advance booking as I did not stay long enough to exhaust the long waiting period (1 week).

So, few days ago on 31st December 2011, while wifey and kids were enjoying their nap in the early morning, I woke up and took a walk from the hotel to the towers to join the long queue of tourists taking their chances nicking that elusive tickets. Joined the zig-zag lines at 6.30 in the morning and finally get to purchase a ticket at almost 9.00am (first group of 22 visitors made their way up at 9.00am); I opted for afternoon visit at 1.00pm.

One of the landmarks to die for is KL Tower (seen on the background)



A sample of the concrete jungle around the Towers



KLCC Park viewed from above

As a twin structures, Petronas Twin Towers is still regarded as the tallest in the world. Standing at 451.9m, the 88-storey Twin Towers is inspired by Islamic geometric shape with each tower plan being based on an eight-pointed star. It's tall and the scenery from up there is breath taking.

Wifey doesn't like height and my small daughter doesn't fancy going either. Still it's a mission accomplished for me personally.