As well as developing a line-up of carbon zero commercial vehicles Daimler Truck has revealed its plans to CO2-neutrality in all its factories and business divisions worldwide by 2039. From 2023, the European locations will be CO2-neutral, thanks in part to the use of solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, the company says. A critical component of the “Green Production” strategy is the increase of self-supply from renewable energies through the installation of more solar systems. Assembly of the new plants began in the autumn last year at Mercedes-Benz facilities in Woerth, Kassel, Gaggenau, and Mannheim, and they are slated to be linked to the grid in stages by May 2023.
Currently, 5,400kWp of solar modules are installed at German truck sites, with the potential to generate up to 5,700 MWh of power per year when combined with existing systems. This is the annual consumption of around 1,400 four-person homes. The more than 13,000 modules, which are mostly put on building rooftops, cover an area of around 39,000sq-m.
“Daimler Truck is clearly committed to the Paris Agreement on climate protection. We want to make sustainable transport a success and thus make an important contribution to combating global climate change,” says Sebastian Brendel, responsible for central energy and environmental management. “To drive the transformation of our industry forward quickly, we are active at all levels, including beyond the vehicle and accompanying services. We are working intensively to achieve CO₂-neutrality and decarbonisation at our sites around the world and see great potential here in the future. The expansion of photovoltaics is an important contribution to Daimler Truck’s sustainable business strategy and a major step toward energy independence for the production sites.”
The programme at the German truck sites began in 2019 at the Kassel facility, where a 4,000 sq-m photovoltaic system was erected on the top of a new production hall and has been delivering power to the hall’s production since its activation.
