Agency Report –
Wolfsburg, Germany – Despite the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles, German auto giant Volkswagen said on Thursday that it continues to invest in wind and solar power parks in Europe.
“Alongside the ongoing sales of the ID models, we plan to further expand our commitment to renewable energies every year,” said Andreas Walingen, chief strategist of the core VW brand, referring to the company’s EV line.
Volkswagen did not provide details of new projects or specific expansion targets.
Europe’s largest carmaker had announced in 2020 that it would invest a total of €40 million ($41 million) in new wind and solar parks on the continent by 2025.
To implement this, VW is relying on cooperation with local energy suppliers. The first project, in partnership with the German multinational RWE, went online at the end of 2021. Walingen said 26 sites are now in operation in nine countries, including eight wind farms and 18 solar parks.
Walingen said the aim is to achieve a “large-scale expansion of European wind and solar parks” in order to enable the carbon-neutral charging of electric vehicles.
Volkswagen said last year that the parks fed 1.1 terawatt hours into the electricity grid. This corresponds to the consumption of around 300,000 households – or the calculated electricity consumption of all VW ID models on Europe’s roads that are not yet charged with totally green electricity.
