WHA Utilities and Power (WHAUP), which provides utilities under WHA Corp, has opened Thailand's largest "solar car park" at MG auto plant in Chon Buri, helping the Chinese car brand reach its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The rooftop solar panels, worth 175 million baht, cover up to 31,000 square metres.
MG car manufacturer and distributor SAIC Motor-CP recently announced plans to have factories be more dependent on clean fuel.
The photovoltaic panels, with a capacity of 4.8 megawatts, have been in use since early October, but the company officially co-launched the new facility yesterday.
WHAUP chief executive Niphon Bundechanan said the project is part of his company's plan to expand the rooftop solar panel business in and outside WHA Corp's industrial estates.
WHAUP is working on 42 rooftop solar panel projects, with a combined capacity of 48MW. Up to 30MW will be generated by solar panels in WHA Corp's industrial estates and logistics facilities.
WHAUP plans to reach its goal of 50MW capacity within this year.
This will see the company increase its total power generation capacity to 592MW, calculated as a proportion of WHAUP shareholding in various energy-related projects, by the end of 2020.
The MG car park is located in WHA Group-run Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 2 in Chon Buri's Sri Racha district, and will be able to generate electricity for 20 years.
"The solar panel technology will help our customers save energy," said Mr Niphon.
Zhang Haibo, president of SAIC Motor-CP and MG Sales Thailand, said his company decided to install solar panels in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to help curb global warming.
Last month, Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Thailand announced a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2025.
The company has installed rooftop solar panels at plants in Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao.
Mitsubishi Motors Thailand said last week it plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 6,000 tonnes a year by installing solar panels at plants in Laem Chabang, Chon Buri.