Press release -
Bjelin initiates clean energy program with solar cells powering its manufacturing
Bjelins vision is to become the world's largest and most sustainable wooden flooring company. The flooring production is partly powered by solar panels placed on the roofs of the facilities. The company from the south of Sweden, now ready for the next step, is investing heavily in solar power in its transition towards energy self-sufficiency.
- It’s with great pride that I announce our new strategy to make the full transition to clean energy, says Darko Pervan at Pervanovo, owner of Bjelin. The environmental gains from the less harmful climate impact are obvious, and it also makes great business sense in the long run.
For Bjelin, the path to sustainability goes through innovation and development throughout the entire process; from the raw materials in the forests to manufacturing and sales of eco-certified flooring. The clean energy discussion has gained momentum through acquisitions and expansion of new manufacturing facilities in Croatia.
A wood processing plant in Spacva was recently acquired and the world’s largest wooden flooring manufacturing factory is currently being built in Ogulin. In addition, Bjelin owns several facilities in Otok and Bjelovar, both in Croatia, as well as a factory in Viken, Sweden. For all of Bjelins production units to become truly self-sufficient from solar power, large investments are required. Over time, Bjelin is confident that they will be able to justify the costs for the investments in clean energy and pocket the savings from reduced energy costs.
The factory in Spacva will be powered by a solar cell plant generating 2,9 Megawatts (MW). The first stage at 1,0 MW is ready for use whereas the rest of the solar cells will be installed in the coming months. There will also be a solar cell plant installed on the roof of the Otok facility. Taken together, when all Bjelins units are online, and including the solar cell plant that is already integrated in the Swedish unit in Viken, the group will generate 4,5 MW, equal to 225 single homes' annual average consumption of electricity.
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Bjelin is part of the Swedish family-owned Pervanovo company group based in Viken, in the south of Sweden, with state-of-the-art production facilities in Croatia. The group has 2200 employees with a yearly turnover of close to 2 billion SEK. The founders of Bjelin invented the world’s first laminate flooring products during their time at Perstorp in the late 1970s before introducing the innovative click flooring in the 1990s, now the company group's leading product line. Bjelin's global sales organization are currently marketing their latest green flooring innovation, Hardened Wood, a technology for creating durable and eco-friendly flooring. Hardened Wood made by Woodura® technology is patented by the group’s R&D company Välinge Innovation AB, www.bjelin.com
