ŠKODA AUTO is increasingly focusing on renewable energy and today, ŠKODA AUTO CEO Thomas Schäfer and Daniel Beneš, CEO of the ČEZ Group, agreed to expand collaboration between ŠKODA AUTO and energy supplier ČEZ. From the second half of this decade, the energy required for the manufacture of vehicles and components at ŠKODA AUTO’s Czech plants will come entirely from renewable sources. The next joint project between ŠKODA AUTO and ČEZ is the construction of the largest roof photovoltaic system in the Czech Republic, which is set to be connected to the grid at ŠKODA AUTO’s headquarters in Mladá Boleslav later this year.
ŠKODA AUTO CEO, Thomas Schäfer, said: “As a global car manufacturer, we take our responsibility for the climate and the environment very seriously and are implementing long-term measures as part of our GreenFuture strategy. We are pushing ahead with the development of energy-efficient and zero-emission vehicles, for example, and are converting our entire vehicle and component production to carbon-neutral energies. I am delighted that we will have the ČEZ Group and especially our long-standing energy supplier ŠKO-ENERGO as strong and committed partners at our side.”
Daniel Beneš, CEO of ČEZ, added: “ČEZ is the largest producer of electricity from renewable sources in the Czech Republic and we focus intensively on their development. We are also the largest operator of charging points for electric vehicles. Just as the future of transport is electric, the future of energy is zero-emission. Working closely together, we are providing ŠKODA AUTO with our expertise to jointly realise our ambitious goals for sustainable development.”
Part of the sustainably generated electricity at ŠKODA AUTO comes from photovoltaic systems. At the end of 2019, the car manufacturer put a solar-power rooftop installation with a rated output of 441 kWp (kilowatts peak) on its Service Centre in Kosmonosy. ČEZ ESCO, which also has a stake in energy supplier ŠKO-ENERGO, was one of the companies responsible for implementing this project. ŠKODA AUTO is the majority shareholder in ŠKO-ENERGO, who supplies all of the carmaker’s Czech production sites with energy and is also a partner in various energy projects.
The car manufacturer is about to realise another project with ČEZ: the largest roof photovoltaic system in the Czech Republic will be built on the roofs of the ŠKODA Parts Centre and the logistics buildings at the carmaker’s headquarters in Mladá Boleslav. A total of almost 6,000 solar panels will be installed, their rated output is 2,300 kW (kilowatts) and the electricity production will be over 2,200 MWh (megawatt hours) per year. Latest-generation solar panels, which have more than twice the capacity of conventional photovoltaic modules, will be used for this.
ČEZ ESCO is responsible for the installation and operation of the system, while energy supplier ŠKO-ENERGO is charged with the coordination of the project. Construction of the system will begin in the summer of 2021, and it will be connected to the grid in the autumn.
SOURCE: ŠKODA
