BMW is betting on solar aluminum produced by the UAE.

Under a contract renewal with the service provider, Emirates Global Aluminium, German carmaker BMW AG will procure aluminium made using solar power generated in the UAE. Specifically, in 2021, EGA will supply 43,000 tonnes of aluminum generated using electricity from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, an enormous ongoing solar project in Dubai that will have a total power generating capacity of 5,000 MW until fully completed. In the light metal foundry at the BMW Group Landshut factory, BMW will process solar aluminum. Nearly half of the facility’s annual requirements would be covered by the amount to be sourced under the new contract.

EGA is the first company in the world to use solar energy for the industrial production of aluminium, according to the announcement, and will initially supply the BMW Group exclusively. The deal, priced in the three-digit million euro range, represents the automaker’s plan to reduce its supplier network’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20% from 2019 levels by 2030. Andreas Wendt, Member of the Board of Directors of BMW, is optimistic that the company will be able to reach more than 50 percent of its supplier network CO2 goals by using green power alone.

A long-term commitment to solar aluminium will reduce nearly 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the next ten years. The group also agreed with suppliers to use renewable power only for its new fifth-generation battery cells in the manufacturing process. In addition, it has vowed to significantly raise the percentage of recycled raw materials and has set the carbon footprint as a new criterion for awarding contracts for its supply chain.