HORSE, a division of Horse Powertrain and a leader in innovative and low-emission powertrain systems, has begun the planned installation of two new solar panel arrays that will supply renewable electricity to its plant in Aveiro, Portugal. Once complete, solar energy will meet up to 30% of the factory’s annual electricity needs and reduce its annual CO
2 emissions by 3,167 tonnes.
Installed as part of HORSE’s decarbonisation strategy, the new photovoltaic arrays have been funded with the support of a grant from the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan. In total, the new solar arrays represent an investment of 3.5 million euros.
HORSE Aveiro’s general manager Raynald Joly said: “This new photovoltaic park will enable HORSE Aveiro to meet up to 30% of its energy needs with ‘green’ electricity. This is all part of HORSE’s broader commitment to decarbonising mobility, delivering a more sustainable future, and powering tomorrow.”
Part of the solar installation will be mounted on the roof of the facility and will consist of 2,800 solar panels that will generate 1.6MWp. The other part of the array will be ground-based and consist of 8,900 panels calculated to generate 5.0MWp. Annually, HORSE Aveiro expects both to produce 16GWh of clean and sustainable electricity a year. Construction and installation will last 14 months and will be undertaken by ENGIE Hemera, one of Portugal’s leading solar engineering specialists.
HORSE Aveiro already has one of the largest private fields of photovoltaic panels in Portugal, without this new project, and the plant has over 40 years’ of operational excellence in manufacturing gearboxes and engines.
The company has recently ventured into manufacturing critical electronics components for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs). Employing 1,300 workers, HORSE Aveiro boasts ‘state of the art’ Industry 4.0 technologies, including production lines that make use of robotic mobile workstations in place of traditional conveyor belts.