Sustainability has been a huge goal for Ford in recent years, and many new developments have been made by the company in order to ensure greener and less wasteful supply chains, manufacturing processes, and facilities. Ford is now taking another step towards an eco-friendly future with the announcement of a new solar power plant at the Almussafes manufacturing facilities in Valencia, Spain.
Ford’s current goal in Europe is for all of their vehicle sales to consist of zero emissions vehicles by 2035, as well as having complete carbon neutrality in its manufacturing processes and supply chain. This new solar plant will be an important step towards this goal, generating clean energy for the plant in Valencia.
“Now, more than ever, we all realize the need to use renewable energy sources. As we move to an all-electric future and carbon neutrality across our manufacturing footprint at Ford, investments in innovations like this new solar power plant in Valencia creating new self-supplied renewable energy, which is an important contribution in our ongoing ambition to help build a better world,” said Stuart Southgate, director, Sustainable, Environmental and Safety Engineering, Ford of Europe.
The solar panels will be capable of producing enough power each year to run 1,400 average households. While currently producing around 4,641 megawatt hours per year, this summer will see the power production increase by 3,762 megawatt hours per year, the equivalent of 1,100 additional average households. This will constitute a significant reduction in the factory’s current electricity demand from the national grid for the year. By 2024, Ford aims to expand the areas of the solar panels on further non-productive land, intending to reach 10 megawatts of peak power. There is also research being conducted on the possibility of placing future solar panels on the roofs of the factory buildings.
These solar panels are just another step in Ford’s journey towards increasing the use of renewable energy and achieving total carbon-free electricity in all global manufacturing by 2035.
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