The Chairman of the Management Board of ŠKODA AUTO, Thomas Schäfer, explains: “As a car manufacturer operating worldwide, we take our climate and environmental responsibility very seriously and, as part of our GreenFuture strategy, we have implemented measures with long-term effectiveness. For example, we are accelerating the development of energy-efficient and emission-free cars, and we are transferring our entire production of cars and components to carbon-free sources of energy. I am very happy that, in doing so, we have attracted strong and engaged partners – the ČEZ Group and, in particular, our long-standing energy supplier, ŠKO-ENERGO.”
Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Management Board of ČEZ, adds: “ČEZ is the largest producer of energy from renewable sources in the Czech Republic and focuses intensively on their development. We are also the largest operator of charging stations for electric cars. The future of the energy sector is emission-free, just like the future of transport is electric. Within the framework of close cooperation, ŠKODA AUTO will offer its knowhow, to make it possible for us to jointly implement ambitious sustainable development goals.”
A portion of the power generated in an environmentally friendly manner at ŠKODA AUTO already comes from a photovoltaic power plant. At the end of 2019, the car manufacturer deployed solar panels with a nominal output of 441 kilowatt-peak (kWp) installed on roofs of the Service Centre at Kosmonosy. The implementation of the project was the responsibility of ČEZ ESCO which also holds an ownership interest in the energy company ŠKO-ENERGO, whose majority owner is ŠKODA AUTO. ŠKO-ENERGO provides supplies of energy to all ŠKODA AUTO production plants in the Czech Republic and, furthermore, it is a partner in various energy projects.
The car manufacturer, together with the ČEZ Group, will soon implement another project: the largest rooftop photovoltaic plant will be created on the roofs of the ŠKODA Parts Centre and the logistics buildings near the car manufacturer’s main plant in Mladá Boleslav: nearly 6,000 solar modules will be installed in total, with a nominal output of 2300 kilowatt (kW) and power production will exceed 2200 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. They will deploy latest-generation modules boasting more than twice the capacity of regular solar modules.
The installation and operation of the facility will be the responsibility of ČEZ ESCO, while ŠKO-ENERGO will take over the coordination of the project. The implementation of the solar power plant will be launched in the summer of 2021 and it will be connected to the power grid in the autumn of this year.
