BMW Group’s new car factory opened in Debrecen

The BMW Group’s new car factory was inaugurated on Friday in Debrecen, where series production of the company’s latest model, the Neue Klasse iX3 electric car, will begin at the end of October.

For the first time in BMW’s history, everything was designed virtually before being built, exactly as it appears today in reality. According to the company’s announcement, this is also the first BMW Group car plant to rely entirely on electricity from renewable sources during normal operation. The factory is not connected to the public power grid; its energy supply comes entirely from its own renewable sources, supported by the country’s largest solar park.

“Our new plant in Debrecen has been designed and built fully in line with our strategic vision of the iFACTORY,” said Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production. “Digital from the very beginning, the plant will offer a new dimension in efficient production without fossil fuels.”

The paint shop also uses an energy recovery system, delivering additional energy savings of up to 10 per cent. The concept combines multiple measures for efficient energy recovery from the compressed air supply, drying ovens and cooling systems. The recovered waste heat is then used to preheat the water circuit.

In addition, a thermal storage system – holding 1,800 cubic metres of water, with a capacity of 130 megawatt-hours (MWh) – stores surplus energy from the photovoltaic system during off-peak periods and supplies it as heat during peak demand.

The Debrecen plant will be the first of five plants worldwide to begin series production of Gen6 high-voltage batteries.

The factory saves 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, and the network collaboration realised during its construction is being shared as experience with plants on other continents.