BMW still hammering out details of promised fossil-fuel free plant
By Victoria Waldersee
BERLIN (Reuters) – BMW remains to be hammering out the best way to make good on a promise to construct the world’s first fossil-free plant in Hungary, from how a lot vitality may be generated on-site to how a lot storage will likely be wanted, the carmaker’s manufacturing chief stated.
The plant below development, which BMW has stated will open in 2025 and supply all its electrical energy from renewables, will nonetheless be related to Hungary’s grid, Milan Nedeljkovic stated at a media roundtable on Wednesday.
About half of Hungary’s electrical energy era comes from nuclear vitality, in response to information from the Worldwide Power Company, with round 1 / 4 from pure fuel.
BMW will try to supply a “vital” proportion of the vitality required for the Hungary plant on-site, equivalent to by way of photo voltaic panels, Nedeljkovic stated, declining to touch upon whether or not he anticipated the precise determine to be over 50%.
Like different carmakers, BMW has dedicated to buying 100% inexperienced vitality, however a lot of that is purchased within the type of so-called vitality certificates, which sign demand for renewables on the open market however don’t imply renewable vitality is flowing into its crops.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and spiking fuel costs have pushed carmakers to look extra intently at direct renewable sources, in an try to decrease dependence on Russia and cut back publicity to a sudden halt in fuel provides.
BMW was exploring numerous concepts for on-site storage of renewable vitality, Nedeljkovic stated, with one choice being high-voltage batteries recycled from BMW vehicles.
It was not but identified what capability the battery storage system within the Debrecen plant — the place the carmaker plans to supply round 150,000 models a yr, in comparison with the 350,000 it produces in Leipzig — would have.
“We’re organising a plan to outline capability necessities,” Nedeljkovic stated.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Modifying by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
