FST takes a closer look at climate and cost

Date: Monday 06 June 2022

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If you fly from Berlin to the northwest and briefly look out of the window of the plane, you find yourself looking down on a blue surface, glittering like a lake and embedded in the landscape. But at second glance, it is clearly not one of the region’s many bodies of water – but rather nearly 420,000 solar modules. They certainly sparkle in the sun, but they don't reflect light the way the surface of a lake does. On the contrary, they absorb a great deal of light and transform it into electric energy. Freudenberg’s use of this “green” energy is bringing it closer to its goal of climate neutrality.

The photovoltaic park in Tramm-Göthen, Mecklenburg, went online in the spring of 2022, and is the largest facility of its kind in Germany so far. About 172 megawatts of electricity will be produced annually on an area equivalent to 347 soccer fields. A commitment from Freudenberg and automaker Volkswagen has cleared the way for the financing of the huge project. They have agreed to buy all the electricity that it generates over the next 10 years.

“When projects of this kind are backed by financially strong companies like us or VW, operators can get good credit terms on construction financing,” said Martin Skrobisch, Head of Energy Purchasing for the Freudenberg Group.

Answers to the climate and energy crises
Skrobisch, who has worked for Freudenberg for more than 10 years, knows all about energy. With the climate crisis drawing attention as the world’s major societal challenge and the cost of energy making life more expensive in every area, his expertise is especially valuable. In these times, green energy is considered a miracle weapon against climate change as well as a technology promoting independence from oil and gas. In other words, it offers answers to both the climate and energy crises. Watch here

• 21% of Freudenberg’s total energy consumption needs are already met by green electricity (as of 2021)
• 5% of green electricity comes from power purchase agreements (status: 2021)
• 40million € electricity costs saved by the company of the power purchase agreements concluded so far over a ten-year term (status: 2021)

 

^{Image:  Volkswagen}

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