More than RON8.6 million of the investment in the plant that will generate electricity and thermal power are European funds.
The biomass power plant will start operating by the end of the year, and is currently undergoing tests, Michael Brandhuber, general manager of Sortilemn told ZF Transilvania. It will generate 1.4 MW of electricity and 7 MW of thermal power and will help Sortilemn cut power costs by about 75%. The investment will also help reduce gas emissions, company officials said.
Sortilemn’s plans also include completion of another investment this year, a coat hanger plant, which will require EUR9 million. The project, developed in partnership with IKEA, entails spending EUR8 million on equipment and the rest of the money on the building of the facility, which will take up 10,000 square meters. IKEA’s contribution to the project is EUR6 million. Sortilemn and IKEA have a seven-year contract for the coat hanger plant, therefore all the coat hangers made in Gherla will go to Swedish company until 2020. The plant should reach peak capacity by 2015, at which time its sales should amount to EUR17 million.
Sortilemn expects 10% growth in sales this year. It ended 2011 with EUR30 million in revenue, up about 38% on 2010. It had 920 employees in the first half of 2012 and should add 230 more by the end of the year. (EUR1=RON4.5757)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)