With this expansion, a quarter of Volkswagen’s global data center will run carbon-neutral. This corresponds to an annual savings of 10,000 tonnes of CO₂. The 2027 target is three years earlier than envisaged in the European Green Deal, with European data center operators agreeing to make their data centers climate-neutral by 2030.
“Green IT is a central theme in our ESG agenda,” said the Volkswagen Board of Management. IT and Digitalisation member Hauke Stars said. “Technology is more efficient; Despite being a key driver for improved customer experience and new business models, IT accounts for about 3 percent of global CO₂ emissions. Due to the increasing demand for computing power and data storage to enable Volkswagen Group’s new AUTO strategy; A sustainable IT roadmap with ambitious goals is paramount to systematically reducing our carbon footprint. With data centers being the largest contributor to carbon emissions in IT, expanding our computing capacity at Green Mountain is a solid step toward making our data center operations carbon-neutral by 2027.”
The partnership with Green Mountain is Norway; It started back in June 2019 with the opening of the Volkswagen Group’s data center operation at Green Mountain’s RJU1-Rjukan site in Telemark. The goal is to outsource high-performance computing projects, such as crash-test simulations, to improve performance in the Volkswagen Group’s data centers at headquarters, which are needed for critical business applications. Grand total, Volkswagen Group six data centers worldwide; 3 in Wolfsburg; 2 in Norway; Singapore has one.
Volkswagen AG with the latest expansion to Green Mountain’s SVG1-Rennesøy data center; A quarter of the Group’s global computing power needs will run carbon-neutral. This corresponds to an annual savings of 10,000 tonnes of CO₂. The renewable energy used in Volkswagen’s data center operation at Green Mountain will provide 500 households with green electricity for a year.
For the new site in SVG1-Rennesøy, Green Mountain converted a former high-security NATO ammunition storage facility into a dedicated 22,600 m² high-security mountain hall data center. The infrastructure is designed to be expanded to 2 x 26 MW, with Volkswagen using a 3 MW capacity. For cooling, which accounts for 40 to 80 percent of the electricity needed to power servers in traditional data centers, SVG1-Rennesøy takes advantage of deep water up to 100 meters and a constant water temperature of 8 degrees. Celsius throughout the year.
In Norway, 98.9 percent of electricity production is renewable, most of which comes from hydropower. Hydropower has both a low carbon footprint and minimal ecological impact. The Norwegian government aggressively promotes the use of electricity from renewable energy sources for new industrial sectors. for example, tax reduction; Low energy prices and stable political conditions make Norway an ideal location for green IT.
Volkswagen AG is the first automaker to commit to the Paris climate agreement in 2018. By 2050, the company aims to be net CO₂ neutral. In its core business, The Group aims to reduce CO2 by 30 percent by 2030. Currently, more than 90 percent of Volkswagen AG’s European production sites are powered by renewable energy.
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