Industrial decarbonisation: Renault Group among the leaders

Energy efficiency has always been a concern, but today, in the current climate of tension around energy, it has become a major priority

In France, Renault are aiming to reduce energy consumption per vehicle produced by 40% by 2025 compared with 2021, and by 30% worldwide.

Across all plants, Renault have already achieved a 20% reduction at the end of 2023. So we're two-thirds of the way there. This performance will enable us to post a consumption of 1.58 MWh/Veh in 2023 compared with 2.00 MWh/Veh in 2021. 

The objective remains to divide our CO₂ emissions per vehicle produced by 5 by 2030, i.e. a reduction of 80% compared with 2019.

"It's a big challenge, but we're confident because we're on track, and our results for 2023 confirm it: already a third better than in 2019. Our next major milestone will be to achieve a 50% reduction by 2025," explains Nicolas Estebe, Director of Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency for Industry. To achieve this, a milestone-based roadmap has been put in place. Our programme concerns all the Group's sites, on the four continents where we operate, with objectives broken down by geographical area. The stakes are high. We have anticipated our direction in order to meet these ambitious targets.

Accelerating decarbonisation: two complementary industrial approaches

Consume less, and more intelligently

First of all, we need to be pragmatic! We need to reduce the size of our workshops: more compact sites require less heating and lighting. Substantial savings!

Renault Group was the first manufacturer to equip itself with an Industrial Metaverse. The digitalisation of industry means that consumption can be monitored in real time, making a direct contribution to energy efficiency. In 2022, within this Metaverse, Renault Group created a dedicated energy portal called Ecogy. This portal brings together data on electricity, gas, compressed air and water consumption in a single interface.... Using the data collected, artificial intelligence can optimise consumption in real time.

And, of course, encouraging teams to get involved: encouraging the deployment of eco-actions and the sharing of best practices. One example of this collective dynamic is the launch at the end of 2023 of the Zero Expense @Stop Challenge. Focused on reducing consumption on non-working days, it enabled all the Group's plants to challenge each other to come up with the best ideas and achieve substantial reductions.

 

Cleaner consumption through renewable energies

While analysing consumption remains essential, we also need to work on other levers, in particular the supply of renewable energy. To avoid relying on fossil fuels, the Group is working with "energy specialists".

"Doing without gas remains a major challenge for a manufacturer like Renault Group, but the solutions exist, and we have the know-how," says Nicolas.

Indeed, from its creation in 2012, the Tangiers plant was designed to be close to net zero carbon.

But what can be done on a factory built from scratch is not always easy to duplicate when it comes to transforming existing facilities. But that's what the Group is doing.

Renault Group is working with various players, such as Iberdrola in Spain, to supply all the sites in that country. Or with COMERC ENERGIA in Brazil. This partnership enables Renault Brazil to produce its own energy thanks to the operation of one of the largest solar farms in the world. This farm covers 85% of the energy needs required for industrial activities and administrative operations.

In Turkey, waste heat recovery systems are already operational, and will be by 2025 in Spain.

In France, a geothermal installation is planned for the Douai site, to cover 70% of the site's heating needs.

These solutions are diverse, because the aim is to move forward on a case-by-case basis, depending on their relevance to the location of the plant, whether geothermal*, methanisation^ or connection to urban or industrial heating networks, for example.

It's a big challenge, but the momentum is there, and it's even involving component suppliers in this virtuous spiral.

Backed by this global strategy, Renault Group is pulling out all the stops: energy efficiency, compact sites, consumption management, decarbonisation of the energy consumed. The teams are motivated, and the results are there for all to see.

* Geothermal energy depends on the heat of the earth. This energy is used to produce green heat.
^ Methanisation is a technology based on the degradation of organic matter by micro-organisms under controlled conditions and in the absence of oxygen.