Nissan starts UK solar farm and lunar prototype

Nissan has the green light to install an additional 20MW solar farm at its Sunderland plant in the United Kingdom, with work starting immediately.

That doubles the amount of renewable energy generated on-site to 20% to cover the build of every Nissan Leaf sold in Europe.

Installation alongside the plant’s existing wind and solar farms is expected to be finished by May 2022.

“We have been using renewable sources on-site for more than 15 years,” Nissan Sunderland manufacturing vice president Alan Johnson says.

“The expansion of our solar farm is an integral part of the Nissan EV36Zero project and the company’s journey to carbon neutrality.”

It’s the first of possibly 10 additional solar farms planned under Nissan EV36Zero, announced in July with an initial billion pound investment from Nissan and its partners in future EV manufacturing, a new Envision AESC gigafactory and Sunderland City Council’s renewable energy Microgrid.

Nissan recently announced Ambition 2030, its long-term plan to empower mobility and beyond, which includes the Chill-Out Concept – previewing the new-generation electric crossover slated for future production in Sunderland.

In October, battery partner Envision AESC received planning permission for its new 9GWh-capacity gigafactory, to be built on land adjacent to the vehicle plant.

The project also includes plans for a 1MW battery storage system using second-life Nissan EV batteries, which will allow excess energy generated during daylight hours to be captured and used at different times, helping to balance grid demand.

The solar farm is being developed and installed by partner company Engenera.

Meanwhile, Nissan has revealed a lunar prototype using its all-wheel EV precision control technology to boost the rover’s surface driving performance.

The lunar prototype, being jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was shown at the Nissan Futures event.

The Nissan Ariya e-4orce model that uses such technology is expected to be sold in Japan in 2022.