Lego plans huge solar park at US production site

The Lego Group intends to build a solar park of around 324,000 m² at its US production facility for interlocking bricks, Lego Manufacturing Virginia, in Chesterfield County, Virginia, USA, to ensure climate-friendly production of the bricks with green electricity. The facility is expected to deliver 22 MW (MWp) at peak, Lego writes in a statement on Wednesday.

More than 30,700 ground-mounted solar modules, delivering 22 MWp, are to be installed on the 324,000 m² site. Lego will also install a further 10,800 solar modules on the roofs of the factory buildings, which are expected to deliver an additional 6.11 MWp.

Lego thus intends to increasingly supply the site with energy from renewable energy sources autonomously. This is intended to make production more independent of the public power grid and energy price fluctuations. It is also intended to prevent grid failures. With an intelligent energy management system, Lego aims to balance energy demand during peak production times throughout the day.

The company announced Lego's first production facility in the USA in 2022. Estimated costs: around 1.5 billion US dollars. The site, covering around 560,000 m², houses a total of 13 buildings with molding and packaging facilities and offices. It also includes an automated high-bay warehouse and an energy center.

The entire plant is designed as a climate-neutral production facility. The entire facility has been designed to consume as little water, material, and energy as possible during operation. The latter includes optimal building orientation, thermal insulation, and the air conditioning systems used. In the long term, the entire energy requirement is to be met by renewable energies.

In addition to climate-friendly operation, Lego also aims to design production in such a way that as little waste as possible is produced, according to its own statements. In addition, recycling programs are supported and resource management is carried out to achieve the self-imposed sustainability goals. This also includes the use of solid wood for the construction of the office buildings, which stores CO₂ and releases no CO₂ during construction. This reduces the carbon footprint of these buildings.

With these ambitions, the Lego Manufacturing Virginia production facility could become a model for other future Lego plants.

(olb)