Ford has taken a significant step towards achieving carbon neutrality across its European facilities by 2035 with the announcement of a new solar power plant in Valencia, Spain. The Ford Almussafes vehicle manufacturing facility has installed 2.8 megawatts of photovoltaic electricity power and plans to expand that capacity by 2.2 megawatts in the coming months. This new plant, which began operating in late 2022, makes use of solar energy to generate electricity, with a goal of reaching 10 MW of peak power by 2024.
As part of Ford’s commitment to selling only zero-emissions electric vehicles in Europe by 2035, the company is also investing in the clean-up of its manufacturing processes. By using a large area of non-productive land on the premises for solar panels, the plant is able to produce enough power to run 1,400 average Spanish homes per year. This new self-supplied renewable energy is an important contribution to Ford’s ongoing ambition to help build a better world, according to Stuart Southgate, Ford of Europe’s Director of Manufacturing.
The Ford Almussafes plant, which is Ford’s largest manufacturing complex outside of the United States, currently manufactures engines such as the 2.0-liter EcoBoost and 2.3-liter EcoBoost engines used in vehicles such as the Ford Explorer, Edge, Everest, Mustang, and others. With a production capacity of nearly 500,000 vehicles per year, the plant will also produce electric vehicles in the future.
