VW set to invest in renewable energy sources: Report

FRANKFURT: The biggest European automaker, Volkswagen, plans to invest almost one billion euros ($1.44 billion) in renewable energies over the coming years, a press report said on Friday.

VW is to invest in an offshore wind park and is in talks with four companies in the sector, with an eye towards choosing a partner by the end of the year, the Financial Times Deutschland said, citing a source close to the matter.

The wind park is expected to have a generating capacity of 200 megawatts, about one fifth the capacity of an average Germany nuclear power plant, the report said, or about as much as 275,000 German households consume in a year.

Investing in wind, solar and hydroelectric electricity production will help VW meet CO2 emission limits that it has set for itself by around 2020, the newspaper said.

VW is of course also developing electric cars, along with all other major global auto manufacturers.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010