Skoda Installs 8.5 MW Rooftop Solar Plant at Pune Facility

• Skoda India has announced the installation of its 8.5 MW rooftop solar plant at the company’s Chakan facility near Pune.

European Car major Skoda Auto Volkswagen India has announced the installation of its 8.5 MW rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at the company’s Chakan facility near Pune.

Last year, the company had inaugurated its first major 980 KV solar PV installation at its Aurangabad manufacturing plant. It currently produces up to 1.5 million kWh and contributes to the reduction of upto 922 tonne of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Touted as the largest-ever such project in the auto industry globally and one of India’s largest rooftop installations, the new plant will produce 12.2 million kWh of energy annually and contribute between 15-20 percent of the plants total electrical consumption, the company said in a release.

The captive solar PV plant spread across a single roof area measuring 63,000 square meters of the body shop and consists of 25,770 highly efficient polycrystalline modules. The project is also expected to reduce direct heat radiation in the shop, it said.

The plant has been installed under a develop-own-operate agreement with Amp Energy India, under a power purchase agreement for 25 years, the release stated.

“The installation of the solar power generation plant at our Pune production facility reinforces our commitment towards building a sustainable future. We have taken a small but significant step towards contributing to India’s commitment to the world in reducing carbon footprint,” said Gurpratap Boparai, managing director, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India.

With a vision of reducing the negative impact of the company’s manufacturing operations towards the environment, it will endeavour to implement more environmentally sustainable projects in the future, Boparai added.

Following the commissioning of the latest solar power plant, the combined technical capacity of two plants now stands at 9.4 MW, which will result in saving of close to 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, the company said.

“Automobile sector is on a tectonic shift globally to use renewable energy for production in their plants. We are excited that this partnership resulted in a world-class rooftop project that is amongst the largest one in the country and would help the company minimise their carbon footprint and energy costs,” said Pinaki Bhattacharyya, chief executive officer, AMP Energy India.

The arrangement will not only reduce the company’s dependency on non-renewal energy, the release said adding the carbon offset achieved through the project is a significant milestone in its goal towards carbon neutrality.

By sourcing energy from a renewable source, the Pune plant will reduce over 9,000 tonne of CO2 emissions from its existing production process marking a significant step toward the company’s carbon-neutral goal by 2030.