The international transport and logistics service provider Gebrüder Weiss has reached another milestone on its journey to climate-neutral logistics facilities.
At the beginning of August in 2020, the logistics company commissioned a photovoltaic installation at the Graz location (Kalsdorf in Austria) capable of generating over 460 megawatt hours of electricity every year, enough to meet around half of the energy needs of the 27,000-square-meter logistics center.
“The roof surfaces of our logistics centers are ideally suited for generating solar power, which is why we included energy-efficient and, by extension, climate-friendly, concepts when planning the new logistics terminal,” says Markus Nigsch, Head of Facility Management at Gebrüder Weiss.
The logistics company already uses solar power at five other locations for lighting, air-conditioning, and charging e-floor conveyors, thereby enabling it to meet ten percent of the current energy needs of all of its logistics locations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Gebrüder Weiss plans to equip an additional four branches with solar installations by the end of 2021. Once installed, all its facilities will produce a total of 8.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity (GWh) and save around 1,050 tons of CO2 every year.
Gebrüder Weiss uses most of the energy for its own needs directly on site.
CO2 footprint is shrinking
Making the gradual switch to renewable energies is one of the core elements of the company’s sustainability strategy.
The aim is to run the entirety of its logistics buildings with electricity from renewable energies by 2030. Gebrüder Weiss has been helping to improve the green credentials of the electricity mix in Germany since 2011 with its wind farm in northern Germany.
The logistics organization is also making use of various low-emission trucks powered by natural gas (LNG, CNG), electricity or hydrogen (fuel cell).
Gebrüder Weiss Graz photovoltaics:
- Area of photovoltaic installation (PV) in Graz, Austria: 2,600 square meters (m2)
- Number of solar modules in Graz: 1,500
- Maximum output in Graz: 500 kilowatt peak
- Electricity yield/year in Graz: 460 megawatt hours
- CO2 emissions saved/year in Graz: 36.8 tons
Gebrüder Weiss Corporate Group photovoltaics:
- Total number of locations with PV installations: 9 (end of 2021: 13)
- Total area of all PV installations: 46,000 m2
- For own use: 24,000 m2
- For third-party use: 22,000 m2 (rented roof space)
- Electricity yield of all PV installations/year: 8,400 megawatt hours
- CO2 emissions saved/year at all locations: 1,050 tons
