Volvo Cars has for the first time introduced solar energy into its global manufacturing operations. The installation of 15,000 solar panels at its car factory in Ghent, Belgium marks another step towards the company’s vision of having climate-neutral global manufacturing operations by 2025.
This solar panel installation follows the company’s announcement earlier this year that its Skövde engine plant in Sweden is the first climate-neutral facility in its global manufacturing network.
The Ghent factory also uses wind power to supply around 11 per cent of its power consumption, and in 2016 the factory introduced a heating system that reduced carbon emissions by 40 per cent, saving 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Since 2008, the electricity supply for all Volvo Cars’ European plants has come from renewable sources.
