The Heart Of Volkswagen's Plant Pumps Air, Water, Electricity

Construction on Chattanooga's Volkswagen plant is in it's final phase but the vital systems needed to run the massive site are finished.

Those systems make the plant one of the most energy efficient in the world.  Volkswagen officials said the Chattanooga plant will use 30% to 35% less energy than older, similar sized auto plants. The electricity the plant draws will come from sources that won't pollute the air or water with carbon dioxide

To make cars you need a tremendous amount of electricity.  You also need a steady and pure supply of compressed air.  And you need incredible amounts of water - chilled and heated.   All that comes from what VW calls the Media Center. It is a 35,000 square foot building that is the heart of the Chattanooga plant.

Chris Johnson, assistant manager of plant infrastructure, said “according to our environmental group that is tracking and projecting our electrical usage we're going to see around 24 to 27 megawatts of power usage here at the plant.”

That's enough electricity to power more than 20,000 homes. The Media Center itself will need 5-7 megawatts of power to operate.

TVA provides the power from two sources - hydro electric from the Chickamauga Dam and nuclear generated electricity from the Sequoyah plant.

Manager of plant infrastructure, Dieter Schleifer, said “both power plants are CO2 free power plants so we get the power from there and it's CO2 free power for us.”

That means Volkswagen's electricity needs won't pollute the air.

Besides electricity the Media Center processes huge amounts of water. The fire pump system can fill an Olympic sized pool in an hour and a half.  The chilled water system could cool about 1,600 homes while the boiler system produces enough hot water to heat 800 homes. Much of the water goes to the paint shop.

“Which is the most efficient paint shop for an automobile plant in the world as I know,” Schleifer said.

The compressed air system in the Media Center powers the pneumatic robots that put car parts together.  All the air, water and electricity flows through an elaborate system of stainless steel pipes throughout the two-million square foot plant. It all has to work without leaks or problems that can shut down production.

“Our target is by the end of the year to have 24/7 coverage with at least six operators and maintenance technicians each shift,” Johnson said.

Volkswagen is also partnering with the City of Chattanooga to use methane gas produced at the city's old Summit Landfill to generate electricity.  It will provide about 8% of the VW plant's electricity once on line.