Toyota invests P100 million for solar array project

MANILA, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) has invested P100 million for a one-megawatt solar array project to power manufacturing operations in its Laguna plant and generate energy cost savings.

TMPC president Satoru Suzuki said during the inauguration of the solar array yesterday the company has spent P100 million for the project undertaken with partners the Japanese government and Manila Electric Co.’s subsidiary Spectrum.

The Japanese government is providing a subsidy for the project to cover 30 percent of the total cost of solar panels, inverters and monitoring device under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) or the mechanism by which Japan works with developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Through the JCM, Japan extends funding to low-carbon technologies and systems in developing countries and purchases the carbon credits from the project.

TMPC’s solar array project is among the first to benefit from the cooperation of Japan and the Philippines through JCM.

Renewable energy provider Spectrum, meanwhile, provided technical expertise and installed the solar panels at TMPC’s material handling operations building roof.

Suzuki said TMPC decided to invest in the project to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and contribute to achieving the goal of the Toyota Group under an environmental plan to completely eliminate emissions at manufacturing plants.

“The solar array has been envisioned to supply green energy to power our manufacturing operations, making our operations cleaner and more energy efficient. This is TMPC’s first major step towards achieving our Plant Zero CO2 goals under the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050,” he said.

TMPC expects to enjoy benefits from the project including energy cost savings of around P10 million per year.

The project serves as a renewable source of energy equivalent to four percent of the firm’s total annual energy requirement.

In addition, the project allows TMPC to reduce CO2 emissions by around 12 kilogram CO2 per unit produced or around 790 ton CO2 per year.