NEW DELHI: Volvo Cars and Stora Enso have started to operate a hot water pipeline between their manufacturing sites in Ghent, Belgium.
The district heating solution, developed over the last two years, will enable an optimised exchange of energy streams between two of the largest Nordic companies operating in Belgium. As a result, Volvo Cars will substantially reduce its use of fossil fuels for heating purposes, cutting CO2 emissions and energy costs, informed the automaker.
The use of district heating will save 15,000 tonnes CO2 per year (which is roughly equivalent to the absorption capacity of 75,000 trees), a net decrease of more than 40 per cent of CO2 emissions from heating in its Ghent plant.
Volvo’s plant in Ghent is one of the two main production centres of the Volvo Car Group in Europe. It assembles the XC60 crossover, along with the V40 and V40 Cross Country hatchbacks and the S60 sedan. In 2017 Volvo Car Gent will start the production of a completely new model, based on the new Compact Modular Architecture.