Gas
The closing weeks of 2022 placed Stellantis Vigo in a delicate position as it fought for STLA, the company’s new industrial platform. Then January shifted the mood. Although the second call for the PERTE VEC program for Electric and Connected Vehicles had not yet been published, talks with the government yielded results. The outlook now includes not just potential aid but the prospect of investments by 2026, and perhaps another two years beyond that for the olive facility. European funding removed the obstruction to high voltage entering Balaídos, and observers noted a major government shift that offered concrete support sought by the plant. Factory manager Ignacio Bueno expressed guarded optimism, saying there is a sense of calm now. Yet Carlos Tavares, the firm’s signature leader, remains assertive. The threshold for aid was nearly breached, and with production quality guaranteed, the objective pivots to reducing costs. The broader struggle centers on lowering energy bills, with authorities pursuing two tracks: securing a framework of aid for gas-intensive industries used by the dyeing processes and negotiating power purchase arrangements with wind energy projects.
Workstreams involving the company, the government, and regional administrations progressed with the new year and the appointment of the Industry Secretariat General. Francis White was placed in the role and the STLA Small platform Balaídos aims to connect the next generation of Peugeot 2008 models. Aid for PERTE appears almost certain in the face of the second call, with the remaining disbursement of 2,182 million euros out of a total 2,975 million earmarked for distribution. This momentum keeps the Vigo site pushing forward.
The Vigo management has navigated past a major hurdle and is now focused on trimming costs to strengthen its position within the Stellantis group as it vies for the STLA platform. Competitors include Trnava in Slovakia and Kenitra in Morocco. With Balaídos reputed for its higher quality, the plant recognizes that even with favorable labor costs elsewhere, energy efficiency remains a decisive factor. Management notes there is room for improvement and is pursuing that potential with urgency.
Initial steps include the installation of 27,000 photovoltaic modules intended to supply about 14 percent of the plant’s energy needs. Yet the plan goes further. The group’s Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza serves as a benchmark, aiming to meet roughly 80 percent of electricity consumption through a hybrid system of solar and wind energy. There, almost 35,000 panels will populate the facility, complemented by four wind turbines. Figueruelas’ energy strategy involves a long-term agreement overseen by Prosolia Energy, set to manage the investment and energy delivery for a minimum of 15 years.
In Vigo, negotiations remain in their early stages but the goal is a power purchase agreement that secures energy from a wind or mill park on acceptable terms over a defined period. Beyond the immediate savings on invoices, this step would advance the decarbonization of production, aligning with the broader target of a carbon-neutral Stellantis by 2038 as articulated by Tavares.
Gas
The other main route to easing energy costs is more urgent. In addition to PERTE and high voltage considerations, the energy strategy includes talks with the government and regional bodies to access the 450 million euro relief package announced on December 28 to cushion the impact of high gas costs driven by the conflict in Ukraine. The plant contends that it is not a gas-intensive operation as a whole, yet processes in painting booths and ovens require significant gas usage for heating. If some funds can be allocated to offset these costs, the financial relief could be transformative for the plant and could prompt comparisons with other Stellantis mills that enjoy lower energy prices. In particular, the Kenitra plant in Morocco, for example, spends less on energy per car produced, underscoring Vigo’s incentive to optimize energy consumption in the near term.