• Exclusive Content
  • Events
  • Endeavor Business Media Energy
    1. Renewables

    Vitesco Technologies Completes Solar Sustainability Project at Auto Manufacturing Plant in Texas

    March 7, 2024
    The project is expected to generate roughly 4,800 MWh per year through 4,800 solar panels - accounting for nearly 13% of Vitesco's annual energy consumption
    Department of Energy
    65e9d416b89615001e9b39e3 Doe 2

    Vitesco Technologies, an international provider of powertrain technologies and solutions for electromobility, has completed a solar sustainability development project at its Seguin, Texas, auto manufacturing plant. 

    The solar project is part of a three-party Power Purchase Agreement between Vitesco, San Antonio-based equipment provider Big Sun Solar, and the Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC).

    The 2.6 MWdc solar project is built on 12 acres near the manufacturing facility in Seguin. Under the agreement, Big Sun Solar will build, own, and operate the solar project, while Vitesco Technologies will purchase the electricity generated to offset its energy consumption from GVEC.

    The project is expected to generate roughly 4,800 MWh per year - enough to power 330 homes annually - through 4,800 solar panels, which use trackers to follow the sun's changing position throughout the day. This will account for nearly 13% of Vitesco’s annual energy consumption at the manufacturing facility. 

    "Powering clean mobility is our mission, and that certainly includes taking responsible actions supporting our manufacturing processes to reduce the environmental effects of the automotive industry," said Dr. Hans-Juergen Braun, Global Head of Operations for Vitesco Technologies. "This solar energy project owes its success to the dedication and vision of our team in Seguin as well as our partners with Big Sun and the GVEC."

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

    Lava butte atop Newberry Volcano. Image credit Q Myers, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
    Rendering of Mesa Data Center credit to Meta Platforms
    meta_mesa
    texas_solar_dreamstime
    Image credit https://www.microgridknowledge.com/nuclear
    dreamstime_google_solar_et
    Image credit Sage will examine the potential for geothermal baseload power generation to provide clean and resilient energy at the military base. The effort will consider geothermal technologies as well as the integration of hybrid energy solutions to generate cost-effective, 24/7 energy resilience.
    geothermal_dreamstime