Logistics Group Shows the Way to More Sustainable Operations Through Solar Power

AUSTRIA – With a drive for all of industry to think about saving both money and the environment, the international logistics company Gebrüder Weiss is setting a good example. The Lauterach headquartered group has just opened its fifth solar power plant at its facility in Pöchlarn producing a total of some 1,725 megawatt hours (MWh) per year on a total surface of 16,000 square metres.

The major part of the photovoltaic modules on the roof area of the branch were rented out to investors in the energy sector after an initial construction period of two and a half months. The plant joins facilities at Kennelbach (Vorarlberg), Maria Saal (Carinthia) and Wels (Upper Austria) where electricity is being produced from solar energy, while the roofs of the transhipment and logistics warehouses in Maria Lanzendorf near Vienna are rented out to a solar power company. Two more plants are located in Memmingen (Bavaria) in Southern Germany.

At Pöchlarn the logistics company itself uses 462 solar panels to generate some 130,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power per year for its own needs on a surface of 786 m², which corresponds to the demand of approx. 26 four-person households and CO₂ savings of some 76 tonnes per year.

With this amount of electricity generated, Gebrüder Weiss Pöchlarn produces approximately 25% of its own daily power requirements leading Branch Manager Bernhard Schartmüller to say:

“Obviously, we want to make use of the new source of energy within the company in the best possible way. This is why we are going to charge our forklift trucks, for instance, by means of rechargeable batteries during the day in future, instead of during the night as previously.”

Across the Corporate Group, approx. 784,000 kWh of electricity are sustainably produced for the company’s own use, the total output of the plants being around 5,200 MWh. Gebrüder Weiss says investing in photovoltaic technology is one of many measures it is taking to reduce its CO₂ emissions and make a contribution to environmental protection.

Photo: Sustainable use of the roof area at the Gebrüder Weiss location in Pöchlarn. (Source: Gebrüder Weiss)