Like many other car makers, Ford is aiming to go as electric as possible along with embracing more emission-free initiatives.
While these plans have been for overseas markets, closer to home Ford South Africa is now tackling an energy efficient project at its Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria.
This as the company has completed a solar initiative that will now see the Silverton Assembly Plant switch to 35 percent solar power. The project, which is the result of a long-term power purchase agreement with SolarAfrica, involves the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) carports for 3 610 vehicles at the Silverton plant.
The large-scale solar array uses a total of 30 226 solar panels to generate 13.5MW of emissions-free electricity for the Silverton plant. It also makes it one of the largest solar carports in the world, according to Ford.
On top of this, it falls in line with Ford’s global target to use 100 percent carbon-free electricity across its manufacturing operations by 2035, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“We are delighted to officially flip the switch and begin receiving 35 percent of our electricity from the solar carports with the completion of the first phase of our Project Blue Oval renewable energy programme. This project proudly puts the Silverton Assembly Plant on the map as part of Ford’s commitment to sustainability as we migrate our energy supply from fossil fuels to environmentally-friendly, renewable resources,” highlights Ockert Berry, VP of Operations at Ford South Africa, in a press release sent to Hypertext.
“Through the long-term power purchase agreement with SolarAfrica, this project will also significantly reduce our energy costs, thus improving the efficiency and cost competitiveness of the plant. It is another big step forward in modernising our manufacturing operations as we build up to the highly anticipated launch of the must-have product that is the next-generation Ranger later this year,” he adds.
Given the continued struggles of the nation’s power utility, we would not surprised to see Ford South Africa fast track the 100 percent emission-free solar conversion of its Silverton Assembly Plant, with other companies likely following in its steps.
For now though, you can see how this project came together in the video pasted below.
