Wieland unveils one of the largest solar parks in Southern Germany

 

• The 24-hectare (59.3 acres) photovoltaic system near the company headquarters in Ulm
• Expected power yield of about 29 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity annually
• Sustainable in-house electricity generation is a key component of the decarbonization strategy

 

Just in time for the start of the new fiscal year, the Wieland Group introduced its solar park in Erbach in mid-October. Five kilometers south of the company’s Ulm headquarters and 15 kilometers west of its largest production site in Vöhringen, the company generates 29-gigawatt hours of renewable electricity annually on an open area of 24 hectares. Wieland invested nearly 20 million euros into the installation of around 48,000 solar modules, 82 inverters, 14 transformer systems, and the construction of a 110/20 kV substation.

 

Ambitious sustainability strategy

The Wieland Group is pursuing an ambitious decarbonization target and is pioneering in the sustainability of the global metals industry. Wieland plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next few years significantly. The mid-term targets require a reduction in CO₂ emissions greater than 46 percent by 2030 compared to the 2018/19 fiscal year. The goal is to achieve net zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2045, which will be accomplished primarily through three main measures:

1. Indirect emissions, mainly caused by metal purchases, will be avoided entirely by supplying scrap from Wieland's global copper recycling centers. To this end, recycled material will increase from 77% today to 100% by 2045.
2. Wieland will consistently electrify all plants and processes in the future, avoiding entirely emissions from the production process caused by fossil fuels.
3. The electrified plants will be operated entirely from renewable energy through green electricity supply contracts or sustainable in-house electricity generation.

 

Sustainable production of electricity

“The solar park in Erbach is an important milestone in achieving our aspirational sustainability goals,” reports Dr. Erwin Mayr, CEO of the Wieland Group. “The energy generated there will enable us to reduce the Wieland Group's global CO₂ emissions from purchased energy by more than two percent,” adds Dr. Mayr. The energy generated in Erbach accounts for approximately eight percent of the total energy needed annually for all Wieland sites in Germany, based on the 2022/23 financial year figures. Wieland does not only utilize open spaces for its power supply but also installs photovoltaic systems on the roofs of company buildings in various locations across Europe and Asia. The sites in Spain, England, and Poland cover almost 100 percent of their electricity requirements with their photovoltaic systems.

 

Procurement of electricity from renewable energies
While Wieland already uses the electricity generated in Erbach, there is yet another important project underway. The energy company, Vattenfall, is building a solar park in Nauen, Brandenburg, which will supply the Wieland Group with around 46-gigawatt hours of electricity annually from 2025. In purely mathematical terms, this corresponds to the average annual electricity requirement of 13,000 four-person households, enabling Wieland to cover an additional thirteen percent of its electricity requirements in Germany from renewable energy sources and reduce the Group's CO₂ emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2) by an additional three percent. “This is done using a so-called power purchase agreement,” explains Dr. Mayr. “When industry and energy suppliers work together in such agreements, it not only secures the financing of new renewable power plants, but also the decarbonization of our industry.”

In the future, the Wieland Group will continue to consistently pursue its chosen path and rapidly and significantly expand its share of renewable energies in its electricity mix. In the European Union, the company will focus primarily on wind energy projects that contribute to smoothing the generation profile of renewable energies. In the important North American market, Wieland continues examining the entire spectrum of in-house renewable energy production.

 

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[Image] The start of operation of the Wieland solar park in Erbach, Germany, in mid-October; from left to right: Johannes Müller (Head of Department from the Personnel and Finance Department of the Alb-Donau District), Constantin Freiherr von Ulm-Erbach (lessor of the land), Achim Gaus (Mayor of Erbach), Dr. Erwin Mayr (CEO of the Wieland Group), Jürgen Schmidt (Project Team Global Engineering of the Wieland Group), Miriam Held (Head of Portfolio & Standards of the Sustainability & Technology department of the Wieland Group), Dr. Wolfgang Albeck (Director Corporate Communications of the Wieland Group).
[Image] Drone image of the 24-hectare (59.3 acres) Wieland solar park in Erbach.

 

For further information, please contact 

Wieland Group 
Dr. Wolfgang Albeck | Director Corporate Communications
Graf-Arco-Straße 36 | 89079 Ulm | Germany 
P +49 152 59719639 | press@wieland.com