The British headquarters of Ford Motor Company has commissioned a 5.2 MWP Solar PV-Array that it says it could feed a Ford e-transit for 14 million miles.
The solar installation, formed from 9,130 panels and 58,000 meters of cabling, is on Ford’s largest car research and development (R&D) campus in the UK, the Dunton campus.
About 10% of Dunton’s total annual electricity demand, which according to the car manufacturer is 55,000 MWh, will be paid by the Solar PV Array. Earlier Ford has its electricity from certified renewable energy sources, said it.
The Dunton Solar Farm is part of Ford’s “Road to Better” initiative, which strives for CO2 neutrality in its European activities, including facilities, logistics and direct suppliers by 2035.
The solar energy plant was supplied by Solutions Provider on-site Energy, who managed the design, purchasing, installation, testing and commissioning the project for nine weeks.
CEO of on-site Energy David Kipling noted that “to construct 5.2 MWP of solar panels in a standard solar farm within nine weeks is a challenge, but completing on such an adapted site with complex logistics with an important collaboration with Ford. “
Dunton is the second British site of Ford to integrate solar panels after the site in Daventry, and an extra site in Halewood will follow in 2025.
Kevin Clarkson, program coordinator at Ford Land, said: “Energy has always been a substantial part of our operating costs and its importance has only increased in recent years. Increasing our capacity of renewable energy is just as critical as the shift to electric mobility. “
EV -Investments
The Dunton campus of Ford has recently seen other investments, with £ 47 million dedicated to the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory (APL) and the E: Prime Prototype Build Facility, of which Ford says that the importance of the site underlines in promoting the strategy from the Carmarker’s Electric Vehicle (EV).
Car manufacturers announced more than £ 20 billion in investments in 2023 and another £ 3.5 billion in 2024 Again factories to support EV production.
Last year, however, Ford announced that it would reduce 800 British jobs and call the rules of the Zero Emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate “unworkable”, even though he had insisted on a heavier mandate in 2022 when the quota first came in in the attention came. The ZEV mandate will see a gradual phasing from vehicles for internal combustion engine (ICE) to a full ban in 2030.
The ZEV mandate threshold for 2025 is that 28% of the sale of manufacturers is EVs – a target that Ford did not hit. More Coverage of the obligations of car manufacturers to the electrification of transport is available on our sister site, Power ±.
