Furniture manufacturer Isku’s production now runs on self-produced solar electricity for seven months a year. There are more than 6,000 solar panels near the factory. The solar power plant is the largest in Finland.
Bringing green values \u200b\u200binto production has been seen as the key to success in a competitive market. It is important for customers that Isku’s furniture is made with solar energy, says Tiitinen.
– This has been a very significant project for us when we think about our responsibility path. This will make our production carbon neutral during the next year.
The solar power plant has been implemented on Isku’s plot in an area of \u200b\u200bfive hectares. There are more than 6,000 solar panels. They produce 2,600 megawatt hours of electricity per year, which is equivalent to the consumption of 1,300 apartment buildings.
The solar power plant has been implemented and is owned by Solarigo Systems. Isku has cleared an area suitable for the power plant, demolished old buildings and signed a 20-year contract with the company to buy electricity from the solar power plant. The project has cost Isku approximately 200,000 euros.
Good deal
Arto Tiitinen says that the electricity contract is significantly cheaper than what would have been obtained on the free market.
– Yes, this is a good deal. The payback period is really short. Our part in this was building the fields. VR’s old concrete sleepers were used as the basis for the solar panels.
– In the past, solar power plants were mainly built on roofs, the surface area of \u200b\u200bwhich often limited the size of the power plant. Now we have moved to land areas, which means that larger solar power plants can be implemented.
Solar park projects planned for areas of industrial scale, i.e. hundreds of hectares, have their own chapter.
Isku plans an even bigger solar power plant
Isku’s CEO Arto Tiitinen says that the company will decide this year whether to build a solar power plant twice as big as the current one.
Tiitinen does not reveal the location of the new power plant, but it could practically supply electricity to the Isku plant’s production as well. At that time, Isku’s entire production would run on energy produced from the sun.
– The new power plant would have approximately 12,000 panels on a 10-hectare plot.
Isku’s entire production is centralized in Lahti, and it has invested more than 100 million euros in its operations over the past eight years.
– When such investments are made, it means that we are committed to the Lahti region.