South Wales factory turns to solar to slash manufacturing costs

Welsh manufacturer Asset International is now home to one of Wales’ largest roof-mounted solar arrays.

The weholite pipe manufacturer has fitted a 250kWp array on its 6,000m² factory in Newport in order to reduce the company’s operating costs. The solar array is expected to generate 220,000kWh of electricity, offsetting around 10% of the factory’s annual electricity usage and saving 112 tonnes of CO₂ from being emitted.  Asset expects that it will consumer 100% of the electricity generated on-site, further benefitting the company.  

The installation was completed by solar installation company, Brilliant Harvest.

Graham Bennett, operations manager at Asset commented: “We have always been committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and follow a strict eco-friendly agenda, something demonstrated by the minimal carbon footprint of the Weholite HDPE pipes that we produce. By investing in such a large scale solar panel system we are making a real statement about our ecological intentions, and will be implementing these practices across all aspects of factory operations.

“Not only does it strengthen our environmental credentials; it also has significant potential to reduce costs at the plant. I strongly believe more businesses should look to greener and more efficient ways of generating energy.”