Mazda is expanding on-site solar power through purchase agreements at two Japanese manufacturing sites without owning the equipment itself. Orix will supply and operate solar panels at Mazda's Miyoshi Plant and at the new Mazda KD Center, scheduled to open in November. Under the agreements, Mazda buys the solar electricity from Orix rather than building and maintaining its own capacity.
At Miyoshi, the plant will use solar power directly while storing excess output in a battery system built with automotive-grade lithium-ion cells. The storage system will reduce peak electricity demand. At the KD Center, steel sheet supplier Toyo Kohan will receive the environmental and carbon-reduction value of surplus solar power, extending renewable energy use to Mazda's supply chain partners.
Mazda frames both projects as tests of carbon-neutral technologies supporting regional industrial development. The company targets carbon-neutral global manufacturing by 2035 through energy efficiency, renewable power, and carbon-neutral fuels.