SM PRIME Holdings, Inc. is on track to achieve its goal of increasing the use of renewable energy to 50% of its property portfolio by the end of 2022, a company official said.
Hans T. Sy, president of SM Engineering Design and Development Corp., said SM Prime’s long-term deal with Aboitiz Power Corp. calls for the supply of Cleanergy across its portfolio.
“This long-term contract will power SM Prime properties, including malls, leisure homes, offices, hotels, and other establishments under the retail competition and open access (RCOA) by yearend,” Mr. Sy said on Monday during Sustainability Forum PH 2022, an event led by the SM group.
Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s brand of power supply sourced from its hydro, geothermal, and solar power generation facilities. RCOA allows consumers with big electricity usage to source power from their choice of qualified retail suppliers.
Timothy Mark Daniels, head of investor relations and sustainability at SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), said SM Prime is on track to achieving its renewables target.
“The way that we’ve approached looking at our carbon targets and use of renewable energy in the SM group is to make sure that we make announcements, they are very grounded in achievability and science,” Mr. Daniels told reporters.
“So, when SM Prime announced that that was what we are going to achieve by the end of this year, we already had very concrete plans around how to achieve it,” he added.
SMIC is the holding firm of the SM group with diverse interests, including property under SM Prime.
Mr. Daniels said, “We are very practical in the SM group, so SM Prime when they said they are going to do it, they are already working very hard and they will achieve it.”
SM Prime has been leading the sustainability activities of the group as it has the largest physical footprint, he said.
“They are clearly a very large energy user within the group and they are the ones who are able to take practical actions around the energy issues,” he said.
He added that every business under the SM group has different climate actions. For instance, in the retail business, the footprint and impact that can be achieved are centered on the customers.
“How can we, as a very large marketplace and presence, actually start to influence supply chains and meet the desire of customers to have more renewable projects,” Mr. Daniels said. “We have different goals for different parts of [the] business, wherever they have the most material impact on the issue.”
Mr. Daniels said that the SM group would strive to push its sustainability targets as much as it can.
“It’s imperative that we’ll be more energy-efficient, that we use more renewables and we fund more renewables and we are very open to partnerships to do that,” he said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
