Brunswick Corp. announces solar installations for manufacturing facilities | Boating Industry
Brunswick Corporation has announced the completion of solar installations at three of its global facilities including its first project in Mexico. Brunswick’s Reynosa facility, which manufactures its award-winning Bayliner, Trophy, Heyday, Sea Ray, and Lund brands, has installed more than 900 photovoltaic solar panels covering 4,000 square meters on the roof of the facility. The installation is expected to cover approximately 45% of the annual energy consumed by the facility’s assembly area and generate approximately 800,000 kWH of electricity per year.
“We remain committed to enhancing the communities in which we live and work which includes focusing on sustainability within our plant operations,” said Jose Guzman, Reynosa General Manager “Adding these photovoltaic solar panels is equivalent to taking 125 gasoline-powered cars off the road, which is an important contribution to our community.”
The new solar panels will result in the annual avoidance of an estimated 565 metric tons of carbon emissions. In addition to the new solar panels in Reynosa, the facility has also completed installation of a new osmosis wastewater recovery system, which will recycle wastewater within the plant and reduce annual water consumption by an estimated 10%.
In continued pursuit of its goal to have 60% of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2025, Brunswick also announced that it is installing two new 100kW solar systems – one at its Mercury Marine Australian/New Zealand head office in Dandenong South (Victoria) and another at the company’s BLA office in Murarrie, Brisbane (Queensland). The Dandenong installation is projected to generate approximately 48 percent of the office’s electricity needs, preventing 132 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere annually.
The Murarrie office solar system will on average meet 50% of the office’s power demand and have the capability to supply 100% of power during peak times. The system will generate approximately 142,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power around 20 homes for a full year.
“Installation of solar at our Queensland facility last year has been an outstanding success, the reduction in carbon emissions we’re achieving illustrates the benefits of going solar,” said Paul Watters, Mercury Marine Director of Strategy & Business Improvement. “We see solar, and more generally energy efficiency as an important part of our future. These new installations demonstrate our ongoing efforts to do more with less.
These installations are in addition to Mercury’s recent announcement that its partnership project with Alliant Energy has received regulatory approval. The 32-acre project in eastern Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, near Mercury’s global headquarters, will further the company’s sustainability initiatives and the region’s growing commitment to renewable energy.
