Nissan announces plans for major expansion of renewable energy at Sunderland Plant

Planned solar farm expansion would nearly triple renewable energy generation at Nissan Sunderland Plant- Proposal would generate enough power to build every Nissan LEAF sold in Europe, as Nissan heads towards a carbon-neutral future- Consultation with local community begins this week

Nissan has today announced plans for a major expansion to renewable energy generation at its record-breaking plant in Sunderland, UK.

Complementing the plant’s existing wind turbines and solar farm, the proposed 20MW solar farm extension represents a further step in Nissan’s path to carbon neutrality.

If approved, the 37,000-panel extension would result in 20% of the plant’s energy coming from all onsite renewables, enough to build every single zero-emission Nissan LEAF sold in Europe.

The plans are to be shared with the local community this week, ahead of a formal planning application being submitted.

Alan Johnson, Vice President Manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland, said: “Renewables have already made a big difference to our business and we continue to look for ways to make the manufacturing process more sustainable.

“As our products made in Sunderland become increasingly electrified, our manufacturing operations are an important part of the ecosystem that will take us to carbon neutrality.”

Nissan began integrating renewable energy sources in Sunderland in 2005 when the company installed its first wind turbines on site. These 10 turbines contribute 6.6MW power, with the existing 4.75MW