TotalEnergies Distributed Generation (DG) is currently constructing rooftop solar systems for 24 facilities across Thailand owned by Thai agro-industrial giant Betagro Group. This will be one of the largest corporate solar portfolios in Thailand, with the project generating an estimated 38 GWh of renewable electricity per year, with a total system size of 25 MW and over 62,000 solar panels. The total area to be covered by solar panels is equivalent to around 36 football pitches.
The solar energy generated from the systems will cover around 15 per cent of Betagro Group’s power needs. Annually, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 26,000 tons – equivalent to removing 4,325 cars per year.
The TotalEnergies Solution provides customers with clean, cheaper electricity via power purchase agreements. TotalEnergies DG develops, builds, finances, operates and maintains solar systems on customers’ sites. Apart from benefitting from enhanced eco credentials and being more self-sustaining in their energy generation, customers gain immediate cost savings. Each year, Betagro Group will save millions of (US) dollars on electricity bills through this solar system. This will allow the company to make better use of resources for significant economic growth in the years ahead.
A challenge of the project was that many of the roofs on Betagro Group’s facilities needed repair. The company wanted TotalEnergies DG to provide a solution for the roof repair as part of the solar project. TotalEnergies DG is supporting Betagro Group with this roof repair process so as to speed up the solar project completion. As TotalEnergies DG has the resources to expedite installation of all systems within a few months, no operational downtime is required as well.
Betagro Group needed to reduce its overall operational costs and was looking for a solution that did not require a big upfront investment. TotalEnergies DG was the perfect partner – offering a solution that takes care of the CapEx and OpEx for building and running all systems throughout the 20-year contract period. Over the contract period, TotalEnergies DG will be responsible for running and maintaining the systems at all sites, offering Betagro Group peace of mind.
The completion of this project is slated for Q4 2020 – look out for more updates soon.