E.ON to build Europe’s largest PV roof system for Audi
German-based energy group E.ON announced yesterday that it will be building together with Audi a solar energy park on the roofs of the two logistics centers of its plant in Győr, Hungary, covering about 160,000 square meters. This project will become Europe’s largest photovoltaic system installed on a building at the Audi Hungaria plant in Győr.
As part of the joint project with E.ON Hungaria, Audi is providing the roof areas of the two logistics centers, each with about 80,000 square meters, for the construction of the solar energy park.
Construction work will start in August 2019 and renewable energy generation will start at the beginning of next year. The project will have a peak output of 12 megawatts.
E.ON will build and put the park into operation, consisting of 35,000 solar cells, and will continue to operate it, with an annual output of more than 9.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity. This corresponds to the annual energy requirements of 5,000 households. Thanks to green electricity from regenerative sources, about 6,000 tons less carbon dioxide will be released into the air.
Achim Heinfling, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi Hungaria said:
“We are committed to the economical use of resources and therefore want to keep the environmental impact of our production as low as possible. Approximately 70 percent of Audi Hungaria’s heat requirements are already covered by climate-neutral, geothermal energy. Our goal is to have completely CO2-neutral plant operation in the future. With the construction of the solar-cell park, we are now taking a further step to achieve this in terms of power supply.”
Zsolt Jamniczky, E.ON Hungaria’s Board member said:
“Our company is committed to solutions supporting a sustainable future. The widespread use of solar energy is an integral part of this endeavor. We are pleased that E.ON has gained Audi Hungaria’s trust and a new, nearly 25-year partnership has started between the two companies.”
Peter Kössler, Board of Management Member for Production and Logistics at Audi AG said:
“We are working consistently towards greater sustainability along the entire value chain. By 2030, we want all our production sites to be climate neutral. The use of renewable energies is an important lever for this.”
E.ON Board Member Karsten Wildberger added:
“Intelligent energy management is indispensable for companies that want to achieve their sustainability goals. We help customers like Audi to combine climate protection with their business activity – and thus create value for their customers and our society.”
Source: Press Release by E.ON. Photo credit: © E.ON. The Audi logistics centre in Győr, Hungary, today and in the future.
