Inexperienced energy tasks ship a complete of about 1.1 terawatt-hours of electrical energy in 2024
As a pioneer, Volkswagen supported the large-scale enlargement of renewable energies in Europe at an early stage. At the moment, the automaker is engaged in a complete of 26 inexperienced energy tasks in 9 European international locations. The corporate has now drawn a optimistic interim stability. Since 2021, the inexperienced energy tasks supported have fed a complete of about three terawatt-hours (TWh) of electrical energy to the European energy grid. This determine corresponds to the annual power demand of about 800,000 households. By means of these efforts, Volkswagen is making a key contribution to decarbonization. An ID.4 powered solely utilizing the EU inexperienced electrical energy grid combine already has a decrease CO2 footprint than a comparable diesel mannequin after about 66,000 km. That is the results of a life cycle evaluation*.
“We plan to step up our dedication within the subject of renewable energies every year consistent with the event in gross sales of ID. fashions,” says Andreas Walingen, CSO and Head of Technique of the Volkswagen Passenger Automobiles model. “By means of the large-scale improvement of European wind and photo voltaic farms, we intend to assist our clients within the area of their efforts to all the time use their ID. automobiles in a internet carbon-neutral means. This exhibits that our dedication to sustainability goes far past the electrification of automobiles.”
A photo voltaic park within the north of Portugal close to Vila Actual with over 60 GWh per 12 months and a wind farm in Djupdal, Sweden, which is supported by Volkswagen with a 70% share and produces greater than 1,000 GWh of electrical energy per 12 months, are among the many bigger inexperienced electrical energy tasks supported by the automotive producer. The corporate is pushing ahead the event of renewable energies all through Europe. At the moment, Volkswagen is supporting 18 photovoltaic vegetation and eight wind farms in Spain, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Assist is offered over the long run, usually for a interval of 10 years. Vitality Attribute Certificates confirming the origin of the renewable power are acquired via these tasks.
In 2024 alone, the tasks generated a complete of about 1.1 TWh of inexperienced energy, similar to the annual demand of about 300,000 households or the calculated electrical energy demand of the Volkswagen ID. fleet on European roads at the moment not lined by renewable energy. Inexperienced energy isn’t but obtainable in all places on the street. A examine∗∗ signifies that the share of “gray” electrical energy at the moment used for charging is about 40 p.c. By means of the inexperienced energy tasks, Volkswagen is shifting this share to carbon-neutral over a interval of 10 years, assuming that every car travels 200,000 km. By doing so, the ID. automobiles can subsequently attain their full potential for the decarbonization of mobility. Decarbonization, with the transformation to e-mobility, is firmly anchored as one of many three primary pillars of the Volkswagen sustainability technique.
Inexperienced energy significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the ID. fashions
Drivers of an ID. mannequin can straight affect the carbon stability of their electrical automotive by selecting the kind of energy to make use of for charging within the use part. This is likely one of the outcomes of the life cycle analyses* carried out by Volkswagen. These analyses decide the CO2 financial savings potential of a car over its total life cycle from uncooked materials extraction via manufacturing and use to dismantling for recycling.
The constant use of inexperienced energy for charging has a substantial optimistic impact in leveraging e-mobility. That is confirmed, for instance, by the life cycle evaluation for the ID.4 Professional reviewed by TÜV NORD CERT Prüf- und Umweltgutachtergesellschaft mbH*. The life cycle evaluation compares the footprint of the car over a complete mileage of 200,000 kilometers with a comparable diesel mannequin. On this comparability, the ID.4 Professional causes about 25 p.c decrease CO2 emissions over its life cycle than the diesel mannequin. If the ID.4 Professional is constantly charged utilizing the EU inexperienced electrical energy grid combine, emissions are even about 50 p.c decrease. The initially greater CO2 emissions in the course of the manufacturing part of an electrical car are counteracted in the course of the use part. This impact will be additional bolstered by constantly charging inexperienced energy. Particularly, the comparability talked about above signifies that an ID.4 Professional operated constantly utilizing the EU inexperienced electrical energy grid combine has a decrease carbon footprint after about 66,000 km on the newest. This level is reached at about 97,000 km with the standard EU electrical energy grid combine.
Many prospects of charging inexperienced energy
On the street, Volkswagen clients have entry to a pan-European charging community with greater than 750,000 charging factors, together with the IONITY speedy charging community with greater than 4,000 HPC charging factors operated utilizing renewable electrical energy.
Since Could 2024, the Volkswagen Group model Elli has additionally supplied Volkswagen Naturstrom Flex, a renewable power product. This new, dynamic power tariff displays hourly market value fluctuations and permits customers to learn from decrease market costs when charging at dwelling. Together with the good charging features of the brand new Elli Charger, the charging bills for an electrical car will be decreased by as much as 40 p.c. In July 2023, the Volkswagen Group and its Elli model turned the primary German automotive firm to start out buying and selling on Europe’s largest energy trade, EPEX Spot. This was the prerequisite for changing inflexible fixed-price tariffs by a market-price-oriented electrical energy tariff.
*/ 02Volkswagen AG commissioned TÜV NORD CERT Prüf- und Umweltgutachtergesellschaft mbH as an impartial exterior physique to hold out a essential evaluate of its LCA examine in accordance with the relevant requirements DIN EN ISO 14040 and DIN EN ISO 14044. In accordance with the usual, the manufacturing part from uncooked materials extraction, the use part comprising passenger transportation over 200,000 km within the WLTP driving cycle and dismantling for recycling (with out battery system) have been used as a framework. The environmental impacts have been assessed through a particular software program together with a database with common upstream chain values. With regard to the cutting-edge of LCAs, it needs to be famous that the calculation strategies for LCAs within the automotive business are topic to fixed additional improvement. Amongst different modifications, generic information and assumptions are more and more being changed by vehicle- and company-specific information; future calculations might thus result in vital deviations from earlier LCA values. Subsequently LCAs are to be understood as a standing on the time of execution (snapshot of the respective assumptions), don’t symbolize a assured product property in a authorized sense and aren’t appropriate for comparisons with LCAs from different automotive producers. Respective harmonizing EU requirements are anticipated to be printed in 2025. For chosen elements just like the battery cells, separate analyses are carried out by Volkswagen.. For additional particulars of this LCA examine, see the “Inexperienced Finance Report 2024“ at https://www.volkswagen-group.com/de/publikationen/weitere/green-finance-report-2024-englisch-2722
∗∗In line with a 2023 examine of the Fraunhofer Institute, renewable electrical energy already accounts for 61 p.c of the ability used for charging all-electric and plug-in hybrid automobiles, with energy from non-renewable sources offering the remaining 39 p.c.
SOURCE: Volkswagen
