CO₂ emissions cut in half

TDK Electronics has halved its CO₂ emissions compared to 2015. One key factor is the fact that facilities in Asia are increasingly turning to electricity from renewable sources.

TDK Electronics works constantly to increase its energy efficiency, rigorously conserve energy and harness power from renewable sources. In 2020, TDK Electronics already covered roughly two thirds of its power consumption needs from renewable energy sources. Now, the two plants in North and South America already use only green electricity to meet all their power needs. In Europe too, the corresponding share is over 90 percent. In Asia it is often more difficult to source green electricity, but small steps forward have been made here too by installing initial PV systems on the rooftops of the facilities in India and Malaysia. Nevertheless, the share of renewable energies in electricity consumption in Asia was comparatively low at 16 percent.

This has now changed with projects in India and China: The Nashik plant, which already generates about 5 percent of the power it uses with its own PV installation, has ramped this share up to a total of 50 percent. To do so, the plant is cooperating with an external partner that has set up a PV field with peak output of 7,000 kWp. The field supplies solar power exclusively to the Nashik plant.

Since September 2020, the two factories in Zhuhai FTZ and Hongqi, China, have seized on a first-time opportunity and derive 100 percent of their energy from renewable sources by the end of 2021. TDK Electronics as a whole has thus increased its renewable energy share in Asia to more than 70 percent.

The impact on the overall carbon footprint at TDK Electronics is enormous: The contract signed in China alone is slashing 86,000 tons off the CO₂ emissions every year. Together with the PV system in Nashik and several smaller projects, CO₂ emissions will thus be reduced by a good 96,000 tons and thus reduced by a total of around 50 percent.