“Environmental care is a Volvo Core Value. We made a strong commitment to reduce green house gas emissions at our Volvo operations worldwide,” noted Carlos Hungria, Senior Vice President of Volvo Powertrain in North America, “and this solar project is evidence of that commitment. We are pleased that our first solar system in North America is minutes from Washington, DC and that we are working with our Maryland neighbor SunEdison on this important project.”
The system will be deployed under a solar power services agreement (SPSA) with SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider. Under the SPSA, SunEdison will finance, install and operate, monitor and maintain the system for 20 years. There is no upfront capital cost for Volvo Powertrain.
The 900 kW DC ground-mount system will be located at the Company’s Hagerstown facility in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Construction on the system is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008, with completion projected for the first quarter of 2009. In addition, the system will be among the first large-scale PV systems to be deployed under Maryland’s recently enacted renewable portfolio standard.
During the first full year of operation, the 900 kW system will produce more than 1,177,000 kWh of clean, renewable energy, that requires little or no water to produce. Over 20 years, the system will produce a projected 21,480,000 kWh and offset 23.5 million lbs of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of removing more than 2,300 cars from the road for one year.
As part of its site transformation at Hagerstown, Volvo has also instituted a solid waste reduction and recycling program which reduced the amount of waste being sent to a landfill by 35 percent between 2002 and 2006. Other facility upgrades included improving efficiency of the heating system, replacing lighting in manufacturing areas with more energy efficient, and less toxic lights, and upgrading roofing construction material. The result has been a 65 percent decrease in energy usage from 2002 to 2006, and a 73 percent decrease in production of the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
About Volvo Powertrain in North America
Volvo Powertrain is part of the Volvo Group, which has its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Volvo Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services, and is the world's leading producer of heavy-diesel engines (9-16 liter). The Volvo Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs more than 100,000 people, has production facilities in 19 countries and sells their products in more than 180 markets. Annual sales of the Volvo Group amount to over 42 BUSD. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company. Volvo Shares are listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and are traded OTC in the US.In addition to its facility in Hagerstown, Volvo Powertrain has facilities in Sweden, France, Brazil and Japan. For more information about The Volvo Group, please visit www.volvogroup.com
About SunEdison
Sun Edison LLC is North America’s largest solar energy services provider and operates across a global marketplace. SunEdison provides solar-generated energy at or below current retail utility rates to a broad and diverse client base of commercial, municipal and utility customers. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com
July 1, 2008
For further information, please contact Ilse Ghysens, Communications Manager, Volvo Powertrain, phone 240-520-4173, email ilse.ghysens@volvo.com
www.volvo.com
