KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): Advancecon Solar Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advancecon Holdings Bhd, inked its third memorandum of understanding (MoU) with pharmaceutical manufacturing plant Peritone Health Sdn Bhd to develop a rooftop solar photovoltaic system at its premises in Kulim Hi Tech Park, Kedah.

Under the terms of the MoU, Advancecon Solar will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction of the 461.12kWp solar photovoltaic system installed on Peritone’s premises, and subsequently invest in, own, operate and maintain the system throughout the power purchase agreement (PPA) and the lease agreement period, according to a statement by Advancecon Holdings.

The MoU with Peritone, alongside two previous MoUs with Oon Corp Resources (M) Sdn Bhd and YHI Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, increases Advancecon Solar’s total net energy metering (NEM) portfolio to 3,710.46 kWp to date.

The MoU comes into effect from the date of signing and will remain effective until the execution of the PPA.

“This is our significant breakthrough in Kulim Hi Tech Park, which not only complements our existing customer base in South Peninsular, but also potentially enables us to make inroads into empowering other corporations in the industrial park,” said Advancecon Holdings group chief executive officer Datuk Phum Ang Kia.

Other than allowing companies to play their part in the nation’s solar energy initiative, Phum adds that the greater adoption of solar energy indicates corporations’ appreciation of the cost benefits in optimising their energy usage in sustainable ways and for a longer term.

“Advancecon Solar is certainly on track towards achieving our target of increasing our NEM portfolio size to between 7,000 and 10,000 kWp by end-2020,” he concluded.

At noon break, shares of Advancecon Holdings rose one sen or 2.7% to 38 sen, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM152.158 million. Around 3.79 million shares were transacted.

While the share price fell to 25.5 sen — its lowest this year — on April 3, it has since rebounded and year to date, the counter has only fallen 5 sen or 1.3% from 38.5 sen.