Swedish energy company Vattenfall is teaming up with the Vattenfall Solar Team again this year to try and win the World Solar Challenge race title.
After this race – which is set to take place in Australia in October – Vattenfall will step down as the team’s main sponsor.
Over the past two decades Vattenfall Solar team, consisting of students from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, has won 10 world titles and set two world records.
The team’s main mission has always been to push the boundaries of what is technically possible and to inspire the world to aim for a sustainable future where energy is used as efficiently as possible, Vattenfall said.
The company has been the main sponsor of the Vattenfall Solar Team since 2001, but after introducing a new sponsorship strategy it was decided that the agreement with the Vattenfall Solar Team will not be extended after 2021.
Vattenfall Netherlands chief executive Martijn Hagens said: “I was always proud of our relationship with the Vattenfall Solar Team and its performances.
“We celebrated some fantastic successes together, and the team has inspired old and young alike to consider what fossil-free living truly means.
“As everybody knows, it wasn’t possible to compete in any international solar races in 2020. Even so, the students continued to have the same drive and determination as ever.
“The team is now busy preparing for the World Solar Challenge 2021 in Australia.
“Providing Covid-19 doesn’t put a spanner in the works, the race will take place in October – and we’re all looking forward to it. We hope we can bring home the gold once more, together.”
Vattenfall Solar Team supervisory board chair Sander Koot said: “We can look back on a fantastic partnership with Vattenfall, and we’re thankful for everything we’ve achieved with them over the past 20 years.
“This final race comes with its own opportunities for the team: we can write a new chapter in our story and help students develop on a personal level, realise their dreams and advance sustainability and innovation more than we ever thought possible.”
The team will continue in 2022 with a new, as yet unnamed, sponsor.