Maruti Suzuki towards harnessing renewable energy sets up 20 MWp solar power plant at Manesar plant

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said it has set up a 20 MWp solar power plant at its Manesar-based manufacturing facility. The initiative will contribute 28,000 MW per annum, which is equivalent to the energy required for the production of over 67,000 cars annually.

"Harnessing renewable energy is the need of the hour. We are committed to the Government's vision of making India rich in the use of renewable energy sources," MSI Managing Director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said in a statement. The company's efforts are aligned towards encouraging decarbonisation in a bid to bring down emissions, he added.

"Our company has been committed to the cause of expanding the use of sustainable energy options to optimise our operations. The power generation from this initiative will constitute over 11.5 per cent of the power requirement of the facility at Manesar," Takeuchi noted. MSI said it has been harnessing solar energy since 2014 when it installed the first solar power plant of 1 MWp capacity at its Manesar facility, which was later expanded to 1.3 MWp.

Taking this initiative ahead, Maruti Suzuki commissioned a 5 MWp carport style photovoltaic solar power plant at its Gurugram facility in 2020. With the new 20 MWp solar plant at Manesar, the company's combined solar power generation capacity, across its plants, now stands at 26.3 MWp.

The latest expansion will lead to the avoidance of 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The 20 MWp car-port style solar power plant is designed with the lowest area per unit of power generation, using the East-West direction concept, maximising generation using minimum land.

The facility has space to park about 9,000 finished vehicles. A solar carport is an overhead shade designed as a parking area shelter with solar panels mounted on them.

MSI's parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation, in its mid-term management plan, has prioritised carbon reduction in its products and manufacturing processes. Aligned to this plan, the country's largest carmaker is also committed to implementing environmentally friendly initiatives for carbon reduction, it stated.