General Motors is making access to industrial-strength green energy a central criterion for the location of its next-generation car assembly plants, even though meeting that expectation could be a stretch, Bloomberg reports.
GM is one of the RE100 group of companies committed to obtaining 100% of their electricity from wind, solar, and other renewables. The company intends to hit the target in 2050, but it aims to source 20% of its power from renewables this year.
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The mandate is affecting the locations it considers for its operations, said Rob Threlkeld, GM’s global manager of renewable energy.
“Electricity that is both cost-effective and clean is one of the determining factors that go into any new investment/expansion,” Threlkeld said. “As we go from 2018 to 2050, obtaining lowest-cost renewable energy generation will be key to meet the RE100 2050 goal.”
But that may prove challenging. While the company can reach this year’s target, constrained transmission capacity could become a problem in the future, Threlkeld told Bloomberg. “For us to continue to find projects that fit our needs, which is providing low-cost, price-stable wind and solar, we need to be able to interconnect those [new] assets to a grid,” he said.
“Some GM facilities are located close to high wind power production areas in Texas and Kansas, but additional transmission lines are needed to make renewable power for GM’s operations elsewhere less costly,” the U.S. news agency notes.
