Vehicle manufacture Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) says it is constructing a a massive 13. 5 megawatt (MW) solar system in its Silverton factory in Gauteng.
The move will help the company lower operations cost and enhance its competitiveness in the highly competitive auto-manufacturing industry, Ockert Berry Vice President operations has said.
The system will have solar carports enough to cover 4,200 parking bays. The PV plant will cost R135 million (US$8.7 million) making it one of the largest in the world.
“The plan is to have all operations at Ford Southern Africa are powered by green energy by 2024. Biomass, biogas, and bio syngas will also be added to the generation mix,” said Berry n a virtual announcement.
Codenamed blue oval, the solar PV project is being developed in partnership with renewable energy developer SolarAfrica.
Ford will also adopt 100 percent water recycling, and all non-fermentable waste will be repurposed through a pyrolysis system to produce syngas.
“This is a bold and pioneering step that will transform our business, helping us make an important contribution to reduce our impact on the environment. It will also make our Silverton Assembly Plant both more efficient and more cost-competitive.”
Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has been an active participant in the South African motor industry since 1923 when we began assembling Model T cars in a disused wool shed in Port Elizabeth.
Its mother company Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan, USA.
