Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK’s vehicle plant in Derbyshire, where Auris Hybrid, Auris and Avensis cars are built for the UK and export markets, is set to be the first British car manufacturer to install a large scale solar panel array after the scheme gained approval from its local planning authority.
The solar array is located on 90,000m2 of industrial land within the plant and consists of around 17,000 panels – enough to cover almost four and a half football pitches. Generating electricity for use on site, the project will help reduce the plant’s carbon footprint, support energy security and cut its power bills.
The scheme will save up to 2,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year and the saving in energy will be equivalent to 4,600,000 kWh. When fully operational it will be capable of supplying enough energy to build approximately 7,000 cars a year.
The solar panels will cost more than R120 million and will be installed and paid for by British Gas. Installation work has started and the array is expected to begin supplying power to the plant in July.
The development is a key part of Toyota’s ‘Sustainable Plant’ vision in which manufacturing operations are designed to work in harmony with their local community and surrounding environment. The UK is one of just five Toyota plants worldwide to be designated a Sustainable Plant with first-rate environmental credentials.
The plant is already making a significant contribution to the UK’s low carbon economy with production of Auris hybrid – the first European built full hybrid car.
Toyota has a recognised history of environmental leadership in Britain and also world wide. It was the first UK car manufacturer to be awarded the international ISO 14001 standard for environmental management in 1996, and the first to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill to zero in 2002. In 2008 it went further achieving zero waste to incineration.
STORY BY TOYOTA
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