Indian utility Tata Power has partnered with sister company and automobile manufacturing firm Tata Motors to develop India’s largest behind-the-meter solar energy carport.

Image credit: Tata Power Image credit: Tata Power

The 6.2MWp solar carport in Chikhali, Pune, is located at a car plant owned by Tata Motors and will produce above 86,000KWh of energy and reduce 7,000 tons of carbon emissions per annum.

The solar plant covers 30,000 square meters of land and has been constructed under efforts by Tata Motors to promote the use of clean energy in car manufacturing. Tata Motors has plans to reach a net-zero goal by 2039 and has signed a power purchase agreement with Tata Power for the solar carport. As part of the PPA, Tata Power will use energy from the carport to ensure the reliability of its grid network.

The automaker has pledged to the RE100 and has since invested in clean energy generation to account for over 21% of the company’s total energy consumption in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, Tata Motors has expanded its portfolio of renewable energy by 16%. The developments have resulted in a decrease in the company’s carbon footprint by 72,739 metric tons.

Mr. Shailesh Chandra, president, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said the company is “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 towards achieving 100% 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.”

Tata Power has in previous years partnered with various companies for the development of one of the world’s largest solar energy projects including the world’s largest rooftop (16MW) at a single location at Radhasoami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Amritsar; 2.67MW at Cochin International Airport and the world’s largest solar powered cricket stadium – Cricket Club of India (CCI) with 820.8 kWp capacity.