Carmaker Audi has unveiled plans to install a 12MW rooftop solar array across two of its logistics centres in Hungary, in a drive to make the facility’s operations carbon-neutral.

As part of a 25-year partnership with energy firm E.ON, Audi will install solar panels across 160,000 sqm of roof space at its Audi Hungaria plant in Győr.

The photovoltaic (PV) energy array will consist of 35,000 solar cells and is expected to have an annual output of more than 9.5GWh – an amount E.ON claims is equivalent to the annual energy demands of 5,000 Hungarian homes. E.ON has additionally forecast that the array will mitigate the emission of 6,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

The Audi Hungaria plant is already running on 70% renewable energy, predominantly from geothermal generation. The automotive giant believes the new array will push this proportion past the 100% mark, enabling the facility to run entirely on zero-carbon power.

“Our goal is to have completely CO2-neutral plant operation in the future and with the construction of the solar-cell park, we are now taking a further step to achieve this in terms of power supply,” Audi Hungaria’s chair Achim Heinfling said.

“We are committed to the economical use of resources and therefore want to keep the environmental impact of our production as low as possible.”

Construction for the onsite solar array will begin in August. It is expected to begin generating power in early 2020.

Read the full article here – https://www.edie.net/news/10/Audi-to-install-Europe-s-largest-rooftop-solar-array-in–climate-neutral–bid/

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