“$2.5 Million to $7 Million alone in energy costs”: Toto Wolff reveals how energy crises in UK has destabilized Mercedes’ operational expenses

Toto Wolff shared that Mercedes plan on setting up a Solar Farm in their Brackley and Brixworth facilities after a steep rise in their energy costs.

Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff has recently been troubled with a new problem. And it’s not the W13’s performance or ‘how to stop Red Bull or Max Verstappen’ but an extremely inflated energy bill.

In the past few years, Mercedes have had a steep rise in its energy bills. The Austrian claims he has seen the costs go up threefold over the past one last year alone.

This is partly due to the current energy crisis currently looming over the UK. The war between Ukraine and Russia and the lack of resources have seen a surge in energy prices all over Europe.

A $140 million Budget cap already restricts F1 teams. To curb the rising expense, Toto Wolff has stated that the team are investing in a solar farm near their Brixworth and Brackley facilities.

 

He claimed, “We have tripled our energy costs in Brackley. We are talking about millions: $2.5 Million to $7 Million alone in energy costs. Charters and air freight have also gone up tremendously.

He adds, “I try to see us as a high-tech industry. And with the positive impulse, we will be creating a massive solar field to provide us with energy.”

A solar farm is a great way to harness renewable energy and reduce carbon Emissions. But not sure if the UK and its gloomy weather make it the ideal place for a solar farm.

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Toto Wolff’s plan for a Solar farm

Toto Wolff has not yet revealed the location of Mercedes’s Solar farm. But the Team Principal has stated it will be built in partnership with an experienced solar developer and funder.

Mercedes had already invested money in their jet fuel to make it more efficient and reduce its carbon footprint. Hence, according to the Austrian, it was a necessary step in the right direction.

Toto said, “We’ve set ourselves quite extreme, quite ambitious targets in building our own solar farm. We spent this year more than $1.2 Million on offsetting sustainable aviation fuel and we will be continuing to do so.”

The farm may not be operational until late 2024. But he plans the sustainable effort by Mercedes will pay dividends in the future when the demand for clean energy is higher, rising energy costs even more.

He adds, “The short-term target is to have our own solar field and that would have amortised itself over 20 years. I guess now with the increased energy prices you can argue that whatever the energy price development is, this is going to be much shorter.”

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