BMW Group Plant Steyr is switching entirely to district heating for warmth, as the Austrian engine facility utilises heat from a nearby biomass plant.
Milan Nedeljković, board member for production at BMW AG, and actor/politician/bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger turned on the new power supply.
The change of energy source marks yet another step in the BMW Group’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, according to the organisation.
Milan Nedeljković, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for Production said: “We are optimising the carbon footprint of all our production facilities worldwide, using innovative technologies and the potential of the local area to generate energy from fossil fuel-free sources. Today, we are setting a new milestone here in Steyr.”
BMW Group Plant Steyr uses around 250 gigawatt hours of energy a year – enough to power about 59,000 homes.
Over the last few years, energy consumption has fallen steadily: “Since 2006 we have succeeded in almost halving the amount of energy we use per engine,” explained plant director Klaus von Moltke.
Heat supplies play a particularly important role in all of this: “The plant was first connected to the district heating grid in 2012. Since then, there have been multiple expansions,” Klaus von Moltke continued.
The transition to purely district heating was expected to reach completion at the turn of the year 2024-2025 but has now been realised two and a half months earlier.
The switch would not have been possible without a strong partner in the region: BMW Group Plant Steyr now sources its heat from the biomass powerplant of Fernwärme Steyr, just under a kilometre away.
This is operated by the state’s two energy providers – Energie AG Oberösterreich Erzeugung GmbH and EVN Wärme GmbH – in their joint subsidiary, Bioenergie Steyr GmbH.
To provide the heat energy that Plant Steyr needs, an additional heat generation plant with a 10-megawatt biomass boiler is being erected at the site.
Klaus von Moltke summarised: “By switching to 100% heat from regenerative biomass, we are taking a major step today. Our plant now sources both its electricity and its heat for regular operations from renewables.”
In his keynote speech Arnold Schwarzenegger called on everyone present to act on climate change. He then shut down the plant’s gas supply.
Milan Nedeljković then symbolically turned on the final expansion to the district heating supply.
BMW’s Steyr plant switches to 100% biomass
