As the first Škoda Auto production plant in the world, it has been producing a component production plant in Vrchlabí with neutral CO2 emissions since the end of 2020. Thanks to savings in electricity consumption and the use of renewable sources. The factory thus ranked among the seven such plants within the Volkswagen Group.
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In addition to the transition to renewable sources and energy savings, the measures in Vrchlabí also concerned the reduction of the amount of waste transported to the landfill to zero. The plant reduced its carbon dioxide emissions from the previous 45,000 tons per year to the current level of 3,000 tons. The plant balances the remaining emissions by purchasing compensation certificates, through which other climate protection projects are supported.
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Last year, the Vrchlabí plant consumed 47,000 megawatt-hours of energy, of which about 90 percent came from renewable sources. Through various measures, the plant has saved over 2,000 megawatt-hours of thermal energy and almost 1,500 megawatt-hours of electricity in the last year. Since this year, the Vrchlabí plant has been using carbon-neutral methane from a biogas plant instead of natural gas.
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Measures at the Škoda Auto plant in Vrchlabí
Photo: Škoda Auto
“Production has closed unused heating circuits, introduced intelligent room temperature control and provided special control of the supply air flow. In many areas, the lighting was also linked to the operating hours, “said the company.
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Since the beginning of 2019, the factory uses all production waste for other materials or for energy. The changes affected turning and drilling equipment, better oil management or the use of more efficient thermal insulation of hardening furnaces.
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The plant switched to less energy-intensive compressed air production, replaced lead-acid batteries in handling machines with lithium batteries, and reduced water and detergent consumption by trapping condensate from parts washing machines.
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The cost of environmental measures that led to carbon neutrality at the Vrchlabí plant has cost about 13 million crowns since 2010. During that time, the entire Škoda Auto invested 34.5 million euros (about 870 million crowns) in environmental measures, said Tomáš Kotera, the company’s head of communications.
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The production of the DQ 200 dual-clutch gearbox was started by the plant after a complete reconstruction and expansion in September 2012. Investments in new halls and the introduction of gearbox production reached 6.5 billion crowns. Prior to the introduction of gearbox production, cars were assembled at the plant, most recently the Roomster and Octavia models.
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The plant produces about 2,300 gearboxes a day. By the end of 2019, the plant had produced three million gearboxes. Roughly two-fifths of production ends in Škoda Auto models, the rest is assembled in other Volkswagen Group cars.
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