Nissan is planning for a significant expansion to renewable energy generation at its Sunderland plant under its work on carbon neutrality.

The solar farm extension would run alongside the plant’s existing wind turbines and solar farm, and would result in 20% of the plant’s energy coming from all onsite renewables

The proposed 20MW solar farm extension would run alongside the plant’s existing wind turbines and solar farm, and would result in 20% of the plant’s energy coming from all onsite renewables.

This would then generate enough power to build every Nissan Leaf sold in Europe.

The plans are going under consultation with the local community this week and a formal planning application is expected to be submitted later this year.

Nissan is planning to achieve carbon neutrality across the company’s operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050. It has already set the goal for all new Nissan vehicles in key markets to be electrified by the early 2030s but innovations in manufacturing technology will also play a role.

Alan Johnson, vice president manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland, said: “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’s first work on renewable energy sources in Sunderland started in 2005 when the company installed its inaugural wind turbines on site. These 10 turbines contribute 6.6MW power, with the existing 4.75MW solar farm installed in 2016. The proposed 20MW solar farm extension would take the total output of renewables to 32MW at the plant.