Husqvarna Group, the global power equipment manufacturer with three facilities around Nashville, Arkansas, has announced plans to build a solar power installation at its injection molding plant in Howard County.
Today’s Power Inc., the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives subsidiary that specializes in building solar generation plants, is expected to install the 1.3-megawatt array, although Husqvarna’s news release on the subject did not include that detail. A Today’s Power spokesman who distributed the release said the company was not authorized to provide any more information at this time.
Husqvarna described the array as the first solar energy project of its kind in the outdoor power tool industry, and the company expects the facility to reduce coal-based carbon dioxide emissions by about 2,100 tons in the first year of operation, and 52,000 tons over 25 years. Construction will begin in the third quarter of 2017 and the power plant is expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
“Earlier this year, Husqvarna Group became the world’s first forest and garden company to have our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets approved by an independent initiative,” said Jim Moore the vice president and general manager of sourcing, operations and supply chain for the company’s consumer brands division. “Now we will become the first company in our industry to build a solar power generating facility. It is important to demonstrate that we are serious and committed to contributing to a low-carbon future.”
Today’s Power, which dedicated a 1-megawatt community array for Ouachita Electric Cooperative this week in Holly Springs (Calhoun County), has been working to add projects beyond its initial client roster of rural electric cooperatives. The Husqvarna project is expected to be the first of several such collaborations.
Husqvarna, which builds lawnmowers, chainsaws, trimmers, blowers and many other outdoor tools, has 13,000 employees in 40 countries and is based in Stockholm. The company, which has a U.S. operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina, has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by a third before 2035.