GKN Aerospace, the largest private employer on the Isle of Wight, has completed a 1.2MW solar farm at its East Cowes site, marking a significant milestone in the company’s journey to sustainability. The solar farm covers 3.9 acres of previously unused land and features 2,734 panels, which generates enough energy to provide 20% of the site's needs. The initiative will reduce the site's carbon footprint by 238 tonnes of CO
2 annually, the equivalent of planting over 9,000 trees or removing 170 cars from the road.
Garry Hernes, site director for GKN Aerospace’s Cowes facility, said: “This is a great step forward for the site and the Isle of Wight in the journey towards ‘net zero’ carbon emissions. A lot of hard work has gone into this project, and I would like to extend a massive thanks to everyone who has supported and helped make it a reality.”
Cowes plans to continue its sustainability efforts by exploring further renewable energy opportunities, optimising production processes and implementing energy meters and management systems to reduce energy waste.
The Cowes solar farm is one of four GKN Aerospace sites using solar energy, alongside Western Approach and its UK Global Technology Centre, both in Bristol, and Papendrecht, in the Netherlands. Five additional GKN Aerospace sites, in the USA, Mexico, India and Sweden, are in the planning phase for solar power implementation, putting the company on track to have over half of its global workforce of 16,000 people operating in facilities powered by renewable energy.
Solar power is a key step in the realisation of GKN Aerospace’s sustainability goals, which have recently been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). GKN Aerospace has also been recognised by EcoVadis as among the leading 15% of companies for operational sustainability practices.
The completion of the project was celebrated with a visit from Richard Quigley, the newly-elected MP for Isle of Wight West, who toured the Cowes site’s shopfloor and the new solar farm.