BENTELER drives climate protection globally: over 70% of plants run on green electricity

Paderborn, July 16, 2025. The BENTELER Group has reached a key milestone on its path to climate-friendly production: More than 70% of BENTELER’s 67 production sites worldwide are powered by green electricity. In 2024 alone, the company reduced its CO₂ emissions by approximately 320,000 tons compared to the baseline year 2019 – primarily through the use of green electricity. A site is considered fully converted to green electricity when the electricity it purchases no longer causes any CO₂ emissions (Scope 2).

While electricity consumption varies greatly from site to site, the use of green electricity means that more than half of BENTELER’s total electricity consumption comes from renewable sources.

“This is significantly more than the targets we had set ourselves for this stage. By switching the majority of our plants to green electricity, we’ve made significant progress in our own production – transparently, measurably and consistently,” says Ralf Göttel, CEO of the BENTELER Group. “Despite the many challenges currently facing our industry, we are making a clear statement: We are not letting up when it comes to sustainability, we’re aiming for net-zero emissions company-wide by 2050.”

Transition to green electricity is progressing continuously

“In 2020, Corby in England became the first plant that we converted completely to green electricity. Since then, numerous other sites have followed,” explains Robert Snijder, Vice President of Procurement at BENTELER. “We focus on three main approaches for sourcing green electricity to reduce our site-related indirect CO₂ emissions: certificates of origin, on-site solutions on or near our factory premises and power purchase agreements.”

Certificates of origin verify that BENTELER uses electricity that has been fed into the public grid from renewable sources. On-site solutions – primarily photovoltaic systems – have been installed at various locations enabling BENTELER to use self-generated electricity. These locations include Schloß Neuhaus (Germany), Vigo, Mos and Burgos (all Spain), Malacky (Slovakia), Pune (India), Shenyang (China) and Kleinenberg (Germany), which is connected via cable to a wind farm. Together, these locations provide around 21 megawatt-peak (MWp) from renewable energy sources.

Power purchase agreements (PPAs) are also playing an increasingly important role, as Christoph Drühe, Commodity Manager Energy at BENTELER, explains: “A PPA is a long-term electricity supply contract – typically for solar or wind energy – between a power plant operator and a major customer such as BENTELER. As the price is usually contractually fixed for the entire term, PPAs provide stable prices and therefore planning security. In the end, it’s a win-win situation as we work together with providers to expand renewable energy.”

In January 2025, BENTELER concluded a PPA with the energy provider Enery to supply its automotive sites in the Czech Republic. This was followed by further PPAs with Statkraft (wind) and LichtBlick (photovoltaics) for BENTELER sites in Germany. Together, the three agreements cover more than 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) of green electricity per year – which corresponds to around 20% of BENTELER's global electricity requirements.

Sustainability beyond production

BENTELER also thinks and acts sustainably beyond its own production. BENTELER CEO Ralf Göttel concludes: “With intelligent lightweight construction, we help make vehicles more efficient. With the HOLON urban, our fully electric, autonomous shuttle, we are shaping the mobility of the future – safe, inclusive and emission-free. And with CliMore^®, our brand for more sustainable steel and steel tube products, we help customers improve the carbon footprint of their own products. In this way, we combine sustainability with technological innovation throughout the BENTELER Group – for future-proof mobility and industry.”