A global healthcare company with an Irvine factory is set to boost its green credentials with a £250,000 solar power project.
Merck, based in Heatherhouse Industrial Estate, has applied for planning permission to North Ayrshire Council to install roof-mounted solar PV panels.
The 350-year-old company is a vibrant team of specialists in healthcare, life science and electronics and wants to erect 500 panels at the site in Second Avenue.
A company representative said: “These will generate 500 watts each giving 250KW of energy per hour. This would power 100 average houses per day.
"The investment demonstrates Merck’s continuing commitment to the local area after previous investments at the site."
The cost for the implementation of the solar panels is around £250,000.
"This will be funded by Merck’s global sustainability programme," the representative added.
“In the first instance, we will reduce the site’s energy consumption and begin our transition to generate our own renewable power (currently all electricity procured for our site is from renewable resources).
"We have a site sustainability roadmap with many projects driving electricity, gas, water and greenhouse gas reduction."
Merck has a number of public goals including achieving climate neutrality across a number of areas by 2040.
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