- Season 2, Episode 6 of Hyundai’s Are We There Yet? podcast steps inside – and outside – Hyundai’s first factory powering sustainable manufacturing.
- Guest Petr Michník, Head of Administration at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech, gives host Suzi Perry the lowdown on how the facility has made the transition to receiving 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources.
- Michník also reveals how HMMC is working with the local region and future generations to drive sustainability beyond the factory site.
With Hyundai Motor fully committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, the Are We There Yet? podcast visits the Czech Republic-based factory that represents a major milestone in its journey to achieving this ambitious sustainability goal.
Accompanied by Petr Michník, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech’s Head of Administration, host Suzi Perry hears how the HMMC plant became the company’s first to convert to 100 percent renewable energy. This is a hugely significant achievement, given the large amount of power the plant requires to produce a new car every minute, 24 hours a day, five days a week – even if it has already reduced its energy consumption by 10 percent in the past four years.
Although HMMC has officially been powered by renewable energy since January 1 of this year, Michník reveals that the plant has pioneered an environmentally friendly approach to manufacturing even before it began production in 2008. For example, rather than cut down the more than 1,000 trees that stood on its construction site, HMMC took the effort to dig them up and replant them nearby.
Sustainability has always been one of the most important points in constructing our factory and starting our operation. Currently it’s getting more and more importance, especially because we have transitioned our energy consumption into 100 percent renewable energy. This is something that aligns us with Hyundai Motor Group’s vision of Progress for Humanity, and fits with our goal to be carbon neutral by 2045.
The HMMC plant became Hyundai’s first 100 percent renewable electricity-powered factory under its commitment to the Climate Group’s RE100, a global initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to the use of 100 percent renewable energy and the acceleration of efforts on sustainable development and carbon neutrality. Production of the electricity powering HMMC comes from a range of sources, including local biogas plants or solar, tidal and wind sources further afield. All of the energy purchased by HMMC is backed by Guarantee of Origin certificates, proving it was generated from renewable sources.
Going beyond: solar energy and community engagement
Looking to the future, Michník explains that HMMC’s plans to become even more sustainable will go beyond the purchase of renewable energy, with the plant not only looking to continue reducing its energy consumption but also to produce its own solar energy from photovoltaic panels installed on the facility’s vast roofs.
Beyond the plant itself, he speaks of HMMC’s considerable effort to create shared value amongst the region – something that, as a local himself, is very close to Michník’s heart. Over the last few years, it has worked on a variety of clean-up, conservation, education and upcycling projects with the local community. In particular, he highlighted the project it has undertaken to preserve the biodiversity of plants, insects and birds in the meadows of the nearby Beskydy Mountains since 2021.
In a passionate declaration, Michník reveals why he is excited to achieve Hyundai’s current sustainability goals and to set new ones in the years to ahead:
We are an integral part of our community. What is good for us could be good for others. We need to influence each other to help the community, because this will bring us back something which we might need later. If we invest in the local community, we will see it returning in having good and happy employees. We will have good relations all around. This all can make us do our business better and the community will profit from us being here.
Petr MichnikHyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech’s Head of Administration
