Bombardier's Belfast Plant Receives Solar Go Ahead

The Deparment of Energy has given permission for plane and train manufacturer, Bombardier to install a solar panel array capable of producing 3.8MW on the company's wing assembly plant in Belfast.

The roof has five hectares of space and the new array will be the equivalent of six football pitches. The company intends to also introduce a biogas heat and power unit to produce a further 500kW of power.
Energy usage is the company's biggest cost at the plant and they have been on a cost reduction through energy saving drive throughout the global network.

The company reports that energy costs in Belfast are three times that of their North American counterparts so this is the first plant to receive the energy and cost saving measures.