Suzuki buys wind and solar energy for its Gujarat plant, cuts emissions by 6%

Suzuki Motor has started buying wind and solar energy for its manufacturing plant in Gujarat. The Japanese auto manufacturer has reportedly entered a deal with a local renewable energy provider. Also, this move is claimed to have reduced the automaker's global carbon dioxide emission by about six per cent, claims a report by Asia Nikkei. This comes as part of Suzuki's strategy to achieve carbon-neutral production by 2050.

Under this agreement, Suzuki plans to get renewable electricity from a 17.6 MW wind and solar hybrid facility. Suzuki claims that its Gujarat plant is the first Suzuki Group company to source renewable electricity through an off-site corporate PPA. Apart from sourcing the wind and solar derived electricity for its energy requirement, Suzuki also has a 0.5 MW solar panel array, installed on its premises in 2018.

Suzuki Motor Gujarat currently has four different plants in the state. Three of these plants manufacture cars like Baleno, Swift and Dzire models. Apart from that, there is another plant that manufactures Suzuki's K12 series petrol engine with an annual capacity of 500,000 units every year. Also, this plant manufactures five-speed manual gearbox and AGS transmissions as well.

Interestingly, Suzuki is not the only automaker that is sourcing electricity from renewable energy sources. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) too started installing solar panels at its Manesar Plant in 2014. Currently, the Maruti Suzuki's Manesar facility has 26.3 MW of solar energy generation capacity.