Tata Motors and Tata Power will jointly operate India’s largest grid-synchronized, behind-the-meter solar carport at the Tata Motors car plant in Chikhali, Pune, in the state of Maharashtra.
This initiative is a part of the Tata Group’s efforts to completely wean away from traditional energy sources and shift to renewable energy (RE).
The 6.2 MWp solar carport deployed by Tata Power has the capacity to generate 86.4 lakh kWh of electricity per year and is estimated to reduce 7,000 tons of carbon emissions annually and 1.6 lakh tons over its lifecycle.
Spread over 30,000 square meters, this carport will not only generate green power but will also provide covered parking for finished cars in the plant, the company said.
Carbon Goals
As part of its net zero carbon goal for 2039, Tata Motors had entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Tata Power on August 31, 2020. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, both companies managed to develop this massive carport infrastructure in a record time of 9.5 months.
“At Tata Motors, we have consciously anchored sustainability in every aspect of our business by striving for more meaningful ways to reduce our impact on the planet, whilst providing exciting products and sustainable solutions to our customers.
We have always been conscious of the need to conserve energy and are committed to achieving 100 percent renewable energy source for all our operations. Our partnership with Tata Power to deploy India’s largest solar carport at our car plant in Pune is a step in that direction,” said Mr. Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors.
“As One Tata initiative, we are proud to partner with Tata Motors and inaugurate India’s largest solar carport. Our partnership is a testament to our collective efforts to lower the carbon footprint and provide innovative and future-focused green energy solutions.
We will continue to explore new ways to harness clean resources and offer them to our partners and customers,” said Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said.
The company further added that being a signatory of the RE100, Tata Motors is committed to using 100 percent renewable power and has decided on achieving this goal by progressively increasing the proportion of renewable energy used in its operations.
In FY20, the company generated 88.71 million kWh of renewable electricity which is over 21 percent of its total power consumption (up from 16 percent in FY19). This helped prevent the equivalent of 72,739 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The company also pointed out that it intends to source renewable energy more rigorously to meet its aspiration of sourcing 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. Tata Power is carrying out an extensive pan-India residential rooftop program to make people aware of the benefits of savings through solar energy.