India's largest solar carport goes online

    The Indian energy company Tata Power announced that its Tata Motors plant in Chikhali, Pune, Maharashtra, India, has opened the largest Solar Panel For Home Use carport in India.

    The 6.2 MW solar carport is estimated to reduce annual carbon emissions by 7,000 tons and 160,000 tons in its life cycle. The carport covers an area of ​​more than 30,000 square meters and will generate green electricity and provide a covered parking lot for finished cars in the factory.

    Tata Motors sees this plant as part of its 2039 net zero carbon goal. It signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tata Power in August last year. Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, the two companies successfully developed this huge carport infrastructure in a record time of nine and a half months.

    Shailesh Chandra, President of Tata Motor’s Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, said: “We have always been aware of the need to save energy and are committed to achieving 100% renewable energy for all our operations. The deployment of the largest solar carport in India by the Pune car factory is a step in this direction. "

    Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power, added: “As the One Tata program, we are proud to work with Tata Motors and unveil the largest solar carport in India. Our partnership is a testament to our joint efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and Provide innovative and future-oriented green energy solutions. We will continue to explore new ways to utilize clean resources and provide them to our partners and customers."

    As a signatory to RE100, Tata Motors is committed to using 100% renewable energy and has taken several major steps towards achieving this goal by gradually increasing the proportion of renewable energy used in its operations. In fiscal year 2020, the company generated 88.71 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity, which accounted for more than 21% of its total electricity consumption (up from 16% in fiscal year 2019). This helps prevent the equivalent of 72,739 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The company also intends to purchase renewable energy more strictly in order to realize its desire to purchase 100% renewable energy by 2030.

    Tata Power has implemented a number of large-scale solar solutions, including the world’s largest rooftop solar power plant (16 MW) at a single site in Radhasoami Satsang Beas, Amritsar; Cochin International Airport 2.67 MW; the largest solar power in the world Cricket Ground, the Cricket Club of India (CCI), with a capacity of 820.8 kWp; the unique vertical solar farm (120 kW) of Dell Technologies in Bangalore; and the 1.4 MW floating solar project of Tata Chemicals in Nellore.