Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMUK), in partnership with British Gas, has started building a ground-mounted solar array capable of supplying approximately 5% of the annual electricity demand at its plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire.

The proposed solar array, consisting of 17,000 solar panels, will be located within the perimeter fence of the Toyota plant on land designated for industrial use.

The scheme will help to reduce the plant’s carbon footprint, support energy security and help reduce its energy bills. Once installed, the panels will save 45,000 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the panels.

The solar panels will cost in excess of £10million but will be installed and paid for by British Gas.

All of the solar panels will be manufactured in the UK and, as far as possible, local labour will be used for their installation and maintenance.

Under the arrangement, British Gas will claim the feed-in tariff – a scheme designed to improve the take up of solar PV panels, by paying the owners for the renewable electricity they generate.

Toyota Manufacturing UK will benefit from the free renewable electricity generated by the panels and will save money by not having to buy as much electricity from their supplier.

Tony Walker, deputy managing director from Toyota said: “We are one of only five Toyota plants worldwide to be designated a Sustainable Plant and so we constantly look for ways to improve our environmental credentials. Using solar power to supply electricity to the plant underlines our commitment to the UK’s low-carbon economy and our own ambitions to further reduce our carbon footprint.”