AsiaSingapore-based Nanyang Technological University (NTU), one of the world's top universities, launched an initiative to invest approximately USD 4 million in adding over 13,000 new solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to the NTU Smart Campus.
Upon completion in the last quarter of 2023, the solar energy generated by the campus-wide solar PV system will increase by 74 percent compared to the current output from the 19,000 existing panels installed in 2015.
Then in total, NTU will own 32,711 panels on 53 campus buildings, spreading over 63,777 sqm of roof space. On the whole, it will raise NTU's total solar capacity to 9.82 megawatt-peak (MWp) with a generation of 11.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy annually—enough to power over 5,300 two-room public housing in Singapore. Plus, the system could help NTU cut down 4,800 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
This project gets funded by the proceeds from the issuance of the NTU sustainability-linked bond launched in 2021, which supports the NTU's corporate and sustainability goals and activities aligned with its Sustainability Manifesto—a 15-year sustainability plan striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
An existential challenge like climate calls for us, as a university, to not just take leadership in paradigm-shifting research for sustainable and innovative solutions, but to also take proactive actions in every aspect of our lives. At NTU, our efforts begin on our campus. This investment is an integral part of our sustainability effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. Together with many other green initiatives and sustainability related research, the NTU community is committed to doing our part for the environment.
—said Ms. Tan Aik Na, Senior Vice President at NTU.
Other achievements under the Sustainability Manifesto framework include successfully switching to electric buses for campus shuttle services and constructing eight Zero-Energy buildings.
