Today might be the first day the UK electricity grid has run without coal in more than a century and a half, but van manufacturing is not being left behind in the dark ages.
Volkswagen's Wrzesnia plant in Poland, production home to the Volkswagen Crafter, on Friday managed to operate entirely on solar power.
Last Friday, the plant belonging to Volkswagen Poznań (VWP) operated completely on solar power for the first time ever thanks to optimum weather conditions in the region.
The solar power plant located on the factory premises was able to supply 100% of the electricity required thanks to its 25,000 solar modules with a capacity of 15.2 megawatts.
The solar field covers an area of 22 hectares and was built in two phases with the first portion becoming operational in 2023.
The second part of the solar farm was recently completed in partnership with Quanta Energy, making it one of the largest on-site facilities of photovoltaic panels connected to a factory in Europe, as well as the largest in the Volkswagen Group.
The farm will apparently cover about 20% of the electricity demand at the VWP plant in Września on average, throughout the course of a year.
However, for the first time ever it was able to power the entire production facility.
“The new photovoltaic plant at the Września factory is a major step towards full energy self-sufficiency, as well as sustainable and environmentally friendly production. It also ensures that we have access to energy at stable prices.” said Stefanie Hegels, CEO of Volkswagen Poznań.
Volkswagen intends to be climate-neutral at all of the group's manufacturing sites by 2040.
More renewable energy projects are already being planned in Wrzesnia, including an additional solar farm with a capacity of 3.1 MW and a 6.5 MW rooftop system.
Paperwork has already been completed for the construction of wind turbines on the site to further boost their renewable energy production.
