Affirming its dedication to environmental sustainability, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) is making a significant R100 million investment in an innovative initiative. The plan involves the installation of 22,847 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels at its East London manufacturing facility. This strategic move aims to harness solar energy for electricity generation, playing a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions throughout the manufacturing process.
This ambitious effort is in line with Mercedes-Benz’s larger sustainable business plan, known as Ambition2039, and represents the second stage of MBSA’s journey towards attaining net carbon-neutral manufacturing. The massive automaker wants to use renewable energy sources for production to meet more than 70% of its energy needs by 2030.
“The installation of the Photovoltaic solar panels at our manufacturing plant is a key pillar of our energy strategy and will contribute towards the East London plant’s daily maximum demand requirement of 12MW in times of peak demand.”–Andreas Brand (CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa and Executive Director for Manufacturing)
He also underlined the additional R100 million invested in the second phase of the photovoltaic solar energy project, emphasizing how this will accelerate the company’s corporate citizenship mandate and aspirations for carbon-neutral manufacturing.
The brand conveyed the company’s unwavering commitment to sustainability, affirming that:
“As a company, we are working strategically towards delivering on our sustainability commitments, and feed-in agreements are required to utilize the new capacity from 2024 onwards. It remains our collective responsibility to safeguard the environment for future generations. To this effect, we call on all stakeholders to respond swiftly and to deliberately act towards helping to curb the exacerbating electricity situation in South Africa. Every action counts.”
In addition to displaying MBSA’s dedication to environmental sustainability, the purchase of PV solar panels satisfies a legislative directive to lessen industrial electricity use on an overloaded electrical system. The PV installation also acts as a renewable energy source and provides an affordable energy alternative.
The initial stage of the project, which encompassed installing 3,692 PV solar panels, concluded in 2022, generating 2MWp (megawatt peak). The subsequent phase will extend to five more rooftops at the East London Plant, incorporating 22,847 solar panels. This expansion is set to increase the manufacturing plant’s capacity by an additional 12.6MWp (megawatt peak). With a cumulative count of approximately 26,539 solar panels, the total capacity will reach 14.6MWpeak, aligning seamlessly with the East London Plant’s maximum energy demand on any given production day.
Beginning in the first quarter of 2024, the project will be carried out in collaboration with a nearby supplier. When the PV system is finished, it should account for about 20% of the East London Plant’s yearly MWh (megawatt-hour) consumption, which would be a major step toward environmentally friendly and sustainable manufacturing methods.
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