‘As more factories in Cambodia take action towards using 100 percent renewable electricity, it will further increase the attractiveness of the Kingdom as a sustainable sourcing destination’
TotalEnergies and Vanco Industries have teamed up to install 750kWp of rooftop solar in Cambodia’s Kandal province. Vanco is part of the Dakota Group of Companies. It supplies garments to Swedish fashion chain H&M, which has pledged to cut emissions 56 percent by 2030 and become climate positive ten years later.
“Rooftop solar is a key step towards this,” said Christer Horn Af Aminne, Country Manager Cambodia & Vietnam at H&M Group. “Dakota’s decision to work with TotalEnergies will have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Cambodia, and signal to others in the garment sector that the time to embrace renewable electricity is now. We truly encourage continuous collaborations between our partners and solar companies. As more factories in Cambodia take action towards using 100 percent renewable electricity, it will further increase the attractiveness of the Kingdom as a sustainable sourcing destination,” he said.
Kilowatt peak (kWp) is the maximum power of a solar panel, so the panels would produce 750 kilowatt hours of power when working at full capacity for an hour.
“This project is part of a growing rooftop solar portfolio by TotalEnergies concentrating on the garment and footwear sector of the Cambodian commercial industry,” said Gavin Adda, Head of TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation Asia. “As a leading solar service provider for commercial and industrial businesses, TotalEnergies is committed to providing sustainability solutions that drive down customers’ costs and carbon footprint over the long-term.”
Vanco Industries was established in 2006 and operates a 350,000 square foot factory in Kandal province near Phnom Penh. It employs more than 4,000 workers, making mainly skirts, trousers, shorts, tops, vests, T-shirts, cardigans, pullovers, and dresses.
“We hope taking an initiative to drive a fundamental change is a critical step to fight climate change,” said Jacky Tsang, Director of Dakota Group and Companies. “As a manufacturer rooted in Cambodia for more than decades, we see every step of improvement as a better ourselves of yesterday.”
H&M sources garments from around 30 factories around Phnom Penh and plans to open its first store in the Kingdom early next year.
TotalEnergies is a French oil and gas company that has broadened its business to include a clean energy portfolio of solar, wind, hydro and bio-methane power projects. It has pledged to reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
