Horse, a division of Horse Powertrain and a leader in innovative and low emissions powertrain systems, has begun the planned installation of two new arrays of solar panels that will supply renewable electricity to its plant in Aveiro, Portugal. Once complete, solar energy will meet up to 30% of the factory’s annual electricity needs and reduce its annual CO2 emissions by 3,167 tonnes.
Installed as part of Horse’s decarbonisation strategy, the new photovoltaic arrays have been funded with the support of a grant from the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan. In total, the new photovoltaic arrays represent an investment of €3.5 million.
Raynald Joly, General Manager at Horse Aveiro, says: “This new photovoltaic park will enable HORSE Aveiro to meet up to 30% of its energy needs with green electricity. This is all part of Horse’s broader commitment to decarbonising mobility, delivering a more sustainable future, and powering tomorrow.”
Part of the solar installation will be mounted on the roof of the facility and will consist of 2,800 solar panels that will generate 1.6MWp. The other part of the array will be ground-based and consist of 8,900 panels calculated to generate 5.0MWp. Annually, Horse Aveiro expects both produce 16GWh of clean and sustainable electricity a year.
Construction and installation will last fourteen months and will be undertaken by ENGIE Hemera, one of Portugal’s leading solar engineering specialists.
Powering a world-leading automotive plant
Horse Aveiro already boasts one of the largest private fields of photovoltaic panels in Portugal, with this new project further expanding its lead.
The plant has over forty years of operational excellence in manufacturing gearboxes and engines, and has recently ventured into manufacturing critical electronics components for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs).
Employing 1,300 workers, Horse Aveiro boasts state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 technologies, including production lines that make use of robotic mobile workstations in place of traditional conveyer belts.
SOURCE: Horse
