Mapei around the World / 9/2/2024

A photovoltaic system for a more sustainable manufacturing plant in Malaysia

A modern equipment will allow Mapei Malaysia to increase the energy efficiency of the facility and reduce the environmental impact of production processes.

Since May 2024, on the roofs of its manufacturing plant in Nilai, not far from Kuala Lumpur, a photovoltaic system with a capacity of 296.01 kWp has been fully operational. The plant can generate 394,738 kWh per year allowing Mapei Malaysia to save 384,600 kWh each year and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions of 292 tons.

Yet another important goal for Mapei Malaysia, the Group's Malaysian subsidiary. Since May 2024, on the roofs of its manufacturing plant in Nilai, about 46 km from Kuala Lumpur, a photovoltaic system with a capacity of 296.01 kWp has been fully operational.

The commissioning of the plant, capable of generating 394,738 kWh per year, is part of the Group's, and Mapei Malaysia's, strategy of optimising energy consumption and favouring ‘clean’ energy sources, which allow to reduce the carbon footprint of production activities. Thanks to this new equipment, the Nilai plant will be able to save 384,600 kWh each year. This will lead to a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 292 tons, the equivalent of a 2413 km car journey.

In addition, this innovation will allow Mapei Malaysia to reduce the amount of energy the company draws from the local electricity grid by 28.2%.

The new photovoltaic plant at Mapei Malaysia manufacturing facility in Nilai will ensure saving 384,600 kWh each year.

More growth...

The photovoltaic plant in Nilai is just the latest step in the growth path of Mapei Malaysia, a Group’s subsidiary established in 1994 to distribute chemical products for the building industry, and in particular materials for installing ceramic tiles and stone materials, in this Asian country. In 2001, local production began with the acquisition of the Rawang plant, in the state of Selangor, in the north of the country.

Subsequently, regional offices were opened in Johor Bahru, Penang and Kuching, which allowed a widespread diffusion of Mapei solutions throughout the country and, in 2014, the production unit in Nilai, in the state of Negeri Sembilan, was completed. The plant, which also houses a Research & Development Laboratory, now allows the production of materials for almost all the Group's production lines.

Thanks also to this production unit, Mapei Malaysia has been able to contribute, with its innovative solutions and very efficient technical assistance service, to prestigious construction or renovation projects such as those involving viaducts 1 and 2 along the KVMRT (Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit) line, the Sepang International Circuit, the Kuala Lumpur international airport terminal 2, the National Aquatic Centre, St Regis Hotel, National Mosque, Golden Bridge in Sarawak, the Kuala Lumpur High Court and the latest Merdeka 118, 2nd tallest building in the world.

05/24

The plant is fully operational

292

Tons reduction in CO2 emissions

120,000

Tons/year Production Capacity

296

Capacity in kWp of the photovoltaic plant

384,600

kWh saved each year

25%

Less energy drawn from the local electricity grid

394,738

kWh energy generated per year

... and more sustainability

Mapei Malaysia has always had a special focus on sustainability, which takes concrete form in various initiatives like upcycling unused mortar into mini pots for autistic centre to paint and sell. Every 22 April, on Earth Day, it organizes activities to promote CO₂ reduction like giving away tree saplings to customers at their stores to encourage replanting. In recent years, numerous employees and the General Manager, Seow Aik Guan, himself, have planted trees in the grounds surrounding the plant and donated plants to colleagues to do the same in their own gardens.

The new photovoltaic system also demonstrates a particular commitment to the environment and its installation was certainly facilitated by the sensitivity of the Mapei Malaysia management and staff to sustainability. At the same time, it is an indication of the Group's willingness to invest in the energy efficiency of its production facilities: a commitment also demonstrated by the presence of similar systems in many of the Group's other plants in various countries.

In Asia, for example, the case of the photovoltaic plant at the Nilai site is not an isolated one: in Huzhou, China, the Mapei production plant, which covers a total area of 20,000 m², is equipped with a photovoltaic system with a capacity of 818 kWp, capable of producing electricity equal to approximately 1 million kWh per year. The system at the Mapei Construction Chemicals production site in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, has an installed capacity of 504 kWp and an annual capacity of 782,000 kWh.

And from Hungary to Italy, from Greece to Austria, many other Group factories have, or will soon have, modern equipment that ensures effective energy efficiency of production facilities and a reduced environmental impact of production processes.

Mapei Malaysia staff celebrates the new photovoltaic plant in May 2024.