Solar Park to Be Built at the BMW Car Factory in Debrecen

In cooperation between BMW Group Factory Debrecen and E.ON Hungária Group, the leaders of the two companies signed a contract for the construction of a 50-hectare solar park on Wednesday at the factory's communication center.

Hans-Peter Kemser, President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing Hungary Ltd. (pictured on the right), said at a press event held to mark the signing ceremony that the plant will be home to the BMW Group's largest photovoltaic system, one of the largest such investments in Hungary.

According to him, 320,000 square meters of solar panels will be installed, 187,000 square meters of which will be on the roof of the factory buildings and the rest on the ground.

“Seventy-one thousand panels will be installed on an area the size of seventy soccer pitches, with a capacity of 43 megawatts, enough to meet the energy needs of 20,000 households a year," Hans-Peter Kemser said, explaining the proportions, noting that the project would be completed by November 2025, the time when car production starts.

The CEO added that sustainability in all areas was a central concern for the factory.

He said that the energy for production will be entirely renewable, biodiversity is central to their thinking, green walls will be built in production areas, they will operate without paper and they will not use any plastic in their restaurants.

Zsolt Jamniczky, Deputy CEO of the E.ON Hungária Group (pictured on the left), described the development as a milestone in the life of the group, which is the largest investment in Europe this year.

No other company has ever entered into such a long-term cooperation as with the BMW car manufacturer in Debrecen, he said. He stressed that the solar park to be built on the site of the plant will not only be built but also operated in the coming years by E.ON, which will also operate a management system on the site.

Just like BMW, E.ON is also committed to sustainability and to supplying its partners with green energy," Zsolt Jamniczky stated.