General Motors is installing a 3 MW solar system on its Changwon Assembly plant in South Korea.
Renewable energy company KC Cottrell will install the modules on the plant’s 688,000-sq-foot rooftop.
The array is expected to go into service in the third quarter of 2013. When operational, it will provide the equivalent energy to provide electricity to 1,200 homes in South Korea for one year – or the same as powering 221 homes in the United States for one year.
This array will be the fourth-largest in GM’s solar energy portfolio, joining plants in Germany and Spain that house large solar capacities on their rooftops. GM has more than 33 MW of solar energy installed at its global facilities.
Changwon Assembly also recently met the Energy Star Challenge for Industry by reducing its energy intensity by 10 percent in two years, which led to a $622,000 cost savings.
In other General Motors news, the company’s plant in Tonawanda, NY, has exceeded the Energy Star Challenge for Industry, cutting its energy intensity by 31 percent. The cuts resulted in almost $2.7 million in energy savings annually, with total company-wide savings amounting to $90 million. Employees at the Tonawanda plant used energy-saving tactics such as eliminating excess lighting fixtures in two plants and implementing natural gas reduction projects.
