In just a little over a year since the expansion was announced and the first foundation stone was laid, Porsche today celebrated the roofing ceremony for the paint shop in Leipzig plant. As one of the most advanced paint facilities in the world, it covers more than 645,000 square feet, and is part of the largest construction project in the history of Porsche: the expansion of the Saxony plant into a fully-fledged factory with on-site body assembly and paint shop for the production of the new model, Macan.
“A number of aspects of this construction are very impressive,” said Wolfgang Leimgruber, Member of the Executive Board Production at Porsche AG, at the ceremony today in Leipzig during which the last steel beam of the roof structure was ceremoniously attached. “A paint shop is being built on a production area of more than eight football fields in record time, which will set new standards in environmental technology. This represents an important investment for the site, a major economic stimulus for the region, and a key enabler for the company’s growth strategy.”
Material Facts
- Approximately 113,000 tons of concrete were used in constructing the shell of the new paint shop.
- It will be about 1,100 feet (360 meters) long
- Run 230 feet (72 meters) wide
- Be nearly 100 feet (30 meters) high
In the coming weeks, the facade of the paint shop is set to be completed. Work on the interior and the painting equipment will commence immediately thereafter, with operations set to begin in summer 2013. The Macan cars manufactured in the Leipzig body assembly facility will undergo a multi-stage paint process on several floors – all in accordance with sustainability measures. A newly-developed separation system for paint over-spray will be installed, and solvent emissions from the painting process will be reduced to a minimum thanks to a chemical exhaust air cleaning system.
The use of waste heat from electricity generated by a wood chip power plant is also unique: a biomass power plant will supply the paint shop with up to 80 percent of its heat requirements from natural resources.
“In our expansion of the Leipzig plant, Porsche is not just setting a clear signal in respect of the environment, but also a clear signal to the people of the region,” said Siegfried Bülow, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH, in his address to the more than 800 guests present at the ceremony. “The plant expansion will create 1,000 new jobs. The paint shop alone will generate jobs for more than 400 new employees.”
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