Sustainability has become a new non-financial metric for investors to assess a company’s risk and today, most companies globally have embarked on the journey to shift their operation to adopt better greener alternatives.

Realising the importance of promoting and advocating green technologies into businesses, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and DHL Express Malaysia (DHL) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the latter introducing electric vehicles (EVs) into its fleet.

The first batch of fully electric vans is expected to be rolled out in the first half of next year (1H2022). The partnership forged is in line with DHL’s aspiration for zero emissions logistics by 2050.

It is also part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group’s wide-scale efforts to decarbonise the company — the group plans to invest a total of €7 billion (RM35 billion) over the next decade in climate-neutral logistics.

DHL Express Malaysia and Brunei managing director Julian Neo says, as the world’s leading express service provider, DHL Express is committed to its role of setting the standards for climate protection in the industry.

“Through collective efforts with partners like TNB, we can achieve long-term sustainable value for the communities we serve and meet our group-wide goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“We are committed to electrifying 60% of our fleet by 2030 and since the last three months from the date we signed the MoU, we have actually progressed quite a bit. We expect the first batch of three EV vans to arrive in 1H2022.

“We are responsible for the world we live in. At DHL, we can contribute to this effort by ensuring more sustainable deliveries. The use of the electric vans marks the beginning of our efforts to make our last-mile delivery and line hauls greener. We will continue to electrify our vehicles to deliver excellence to our customers,” Neo says.

TNB, on the other hand, will develop the infrastructure and install EV charging stations at DHL’s service centre in Chan Sow Lin, Kuala Lumpur, plus several more along selected delivery routes.

The MoU will also see the two firms investing in energy-efficient equipment, and building energy management systems and rooftop solar panels.

“We are also putting two direct fast chargers out on the road to facilitate charging during DHL’s operation outside of the service centre. One of them is located at the TNB Dayabumi substation. It only takes 1 minute of charging for a 6km run.

“We are always open to inviting other EV players to use the charger. For us, this is significant progress that we have made and we are working with DHL to ensure that we can deliver this on time,” says Tenaga Nasional chief retail officer Datuk Ir Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan.

Elaborating more on the EV fleet, Neo says the specification makes it a perfect solution for flexible urban deliveries.

“The EV vans just require about seven hours of charging time [for a] drive of up to 200km on a single charge, which is more than sufficient for DHL. When we did our study, on average, our vans just used 180km on a daily basis in a pilot distance. Complete with the support of the direct fast charger, it is sufficient to support us in our operation,” he shares.

Beyond making its operation environmentally friendly, DHL Express also offers solutions to customers and businesses that are constantly looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

“We currently offer a Go Green option for parcel delivery, thus empowering customers to adopt greener and fuel-efficient options. In Malaysia, we also provide additional carbon reporting services that allow customers to analyse their environmental footprint and manage their carbon emissions. Customers can also receive verified calculation and offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions for our transport and logistics services through climate protection projects,” he says.

On top of that, DHL is looking into a potential partnership where the group aims to recycle its packaging materials. “It’s currently at the infant stage of discussion. We are looking at how we can further recycle packages that have been used during deliveries,” Neo highlights.

DHL Express recently announced the sustainability roadmap in tandem with its global go green goals. Amid the surge in demand for e-commerce transactions, which drive the logistics sector, the company is committed to reducing its carbon emissions from 33 million tonnes in 2020 to 29 million tonnes in 2030.

“We also want to be a leader in sustainability in logistics aviation. We plan to increase sustainable aviation fuel blend to at least 30% by 2030. We also plan to introduce carbon neutral buildings; we are going to design 100% of all new buildings with carbon neutral.

“We currently have in plan eight facilities. One has gone live and three more in the pipeline will be going live with solar panels installed. That will potentially give us 800kW once all are fully completed,” Neo elaborates.

DHL Express will continue to expand its green product portfolio by offering alternative solutions to all of its products and services.

Meanwhile, as the national utility service provider, TNB is ready to provide and empower EV infrastructure in the country.

Megat Jalaluddin highlights that the MoU with DHL will pave the way for TNB to provide critical infrastructure for the logistics company in providing the best services to its customers.

“Looking at the whole ecosystem of the EV infrastructure, we believe we can attract more customers in the future. We will create a robust business model for our potential customers. This business model is designed to strengthen the foundational support for EV proliferation in Malaysia as we help reduce any range anxiety for potential individual car owners who are looking to switch to EV in the near future,” he says.

“Together with the government’s support, it is only a matter of time before EV becomes commonplace in the country, which is our objective. In a sense, TNB is ready to electrify the green agenda of Malaysia,” he explains.

On the renewable energy front, TNB says it is planning to increase its generation of renewable energy capacity to 8,300MW by 2025, up from the current rate of 3,402MW. It also plans to expand the adoption of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, biomass and biogas.

According to Megat Jalaluddin, the utility company recently shared its planned sustainability journey, which outlines its commitment to be a net-zero carbon emission company by 2050, during the announcement of its first half FY2021 results.

“In our sustainability journey, we are committed to deploying initiatives that include our plan to reduce carbon emissions to 35% and coal generation to 50% by 2035. We also intend to accelerate investments in emerging green technologies like green hydrogen and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as soon as they become economically viable,” he concludes.