• Around 620 solar modules generate more than 220,000 kWh of green electricity
• Array saves around 108,000 kg of carbon dioxide a year
• Plant manager Hüskes: 'We are making a substantial contribution towards climate protection'

With a new PV installation at its Warendorf plant, Miele is significantly increasing its in-house production of green electricity. Miele has installed around 620 PV modules on the roof of a production building. With a total output of more than 200 kilowatts peak (kWp), the array generates power each year to the tune of 220,000 kWh – on paper, sufficient to power more than 70 households with an average annual consumption of 3,000 kWh.

A solar power station has been created on a roof area covering 4,000 m² – around the size of six tennis courts. Here, Miele will generate electricity to cover its own needs and, in the process, reduce emissions which damage the climate. The new installation cuts CO2 by around 108,000 kg per annum, equating to the emissions of more than 60 medium-size vehicles with combustion engines.

'We are pleased to be able to make a substantial contribution to climate protection with this solar installation, both in the region and beyond', says Markus Hüskes, Managing Director of the Warendorf plant, where plastic components are manufactured for the Miele production network. Moreover, the small power station helps to achieve a key goal of Miele's corporate sustainability strategy. 'We at Miele aim to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared with 2019', Hüskes explains. The share of 'home-grown' electricity is to be successively increased. 'Our installation is due to be connected to the grid as soon as possible', says Hüskes.

Then, Warendorf will join the company's own community of producers of electricity: Since 2022, a PV installation with 10,000 modules has been operating at the Chinese Miele plant in Dongguan. This more than covers the plant's own energy needs and saves around 4.9 m kg CO2 per annum in the process. A further power plant is currently under installation at Miele's Polish location in Ksawerów. More than 3,700 collectors convert the sun's energy into electricity, saving a further million kg of carbon dioxide. Miele build solar installation with 2,400 modules in Gütersloh (370,000 kg CO2 savings), in Lehrte in Lower Saxony, with 300 modules (CO2 reduction in the order of 80,000 kg) and in Arnsberg with 90 modules (savings of 22,000 kg). All three installations are due to go online in early 2024 at the latest.

For its commitment to sustainability, Miele recently won the coveted German Sustainability Prize 2023. Success is evidenced by long-lasting products, resource-saving production, lived responsibility towards supply chains and employees and measures aimed at saving CO2.

Miele in Warendorf

As the Technology Center for plastic components, Warendorf acts as a supplier to all Miele Group finished goods production plants. Production includes complex sub-assemblies such as washing machine doors or the filters used on tumble dryers as well as sophisticated composite parts and components with a high-gloss surface finish such as vacuum cleaner casings. Around 60% of the plastic components used at Miele's German production plants originate in Warendorf. Furthermore, the plant, founded in 1975 with around 360 employees, supports the production of plastic components at Miele plants in Uničov (Czech Republic), Dongguan (China) and Ksawerów (Poland).

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. Their product portfolio also includes dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications. Founded in 1899, the company has eight production plants in Germany, one each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland as well as two production plants belonging to its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. Sales in the 2022 business year amounted to around € 5.43 bn. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries/regions. Throughout the world, the family-run enterprise, now in its fourth generation, employs a workforce of around 23,300, of which approx. 11,900 employees work in Germany. The company has its headquarters in Gütersloh in Westphalia.
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