Robinsons Land, Meralco tie up for green initiatives

PROPERTY developer Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) have committed to reducing carbon emissions by partnering in putting up charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs).

“Our partnership with Meralco allows us to strengthen our commitment to our sustainability strategy and introduce innovations that will have a lasting impact for our stakeholders including our customers,” RLC Executive Vice-President Faraday D. Go said during the launching event on Wednesday.

RLC launched its first EV charging hub at Robinsons Galleria which was supplied and installed by Meralco subsidiary eSakay, Inc.

The charging hub installed by the EV solutions provider can cater to various EVs including cars, bikes, scooters, and trikes at zero cost.

Three vehicles at a time may occupy the charging hub with one port allotted for four-wheeled EVs and two ports allotted for two- and three-wheeled EVs.

RLC and Meralco are set to open two more EV charging stations before the year ends at Robinsons Magnolia and Robinsons Tagaytay, with the Tagaytay hub as the first mall EV charging station outside Metro Manila.

“They are being built right now. Magnolia should be [up] in a couple of weeks and then Tagaytay will follow soon after,” Mr. Go said on the sidelines of the event.

For the port to work, customers will need to put in a peso coin to start it up, which will be good for 30 minutes of charging.

As part of its green initiatives, RLC has invested P1.6 billion in installing solar photovoltaic technology across its malls through the solar subsidiary of Meralco, MSpectrum, Inc. or Spectrum.

“Today we have 24 malls all across the country with solar power installations and we continue to do more,” RLC Senior Vice-President and General Manager Arlene G. Magtibay said.

At present, RLC has 24 malls in its portfolio that are solar powered and with five malls having Spectrum as the handler of operations and maintenance.

These malls are Robinsons Novaliches, Robinsons Angeles, Robinsons Cybergate Bacolod, Robinsons Galleria Cebu, and Robinsons Palawan Expansion.

“Solar power is both clean and renewable and we have successfully reduced our carbon footprint by going through this route,” Ms. Magtibay said.

RLC is among the country’s largest property developers. Its business segments include residences, hotels and resorts, commercial centers, industrial and integrated developments, and office buildings.

In a press release, Meralco is said to have been proactively supporting RLC such as through contract rightsizing that allowed the property developer to save as much as P2.1 million in energy costs since November last year. — Justine Irish D. Tabile