Şişecam will increase the capacity of its second frosted glass furnace and energy glass processing line in Mersin, Turkey in a €228 million investment focused on solar energy.
Şişecam will increase its frosted glass furnace investment capacity in Mersin, from 180 thousand tons to 244 thousand tons per year.
The Turkish glass manufacturer will also increase its yearly capacity of energy glass processing line from 20 million m2 to 26.6 million m2.
The move to sustainable energy will increase the total investment amount of the two projects to €228 million inclusive of working capital requirements.
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kırman, Şişecam’s Chairman and Executive Member of the Board, said: “While the cost of energy increases, the decrease in the costs of generating electricity from solar energy and the sustainability focus in the global arena offer new opportunities in the frosted glass and energy glass industries.
“With this strategic move, Şişecam's installed frosted glass production capacity will reach 324 thousand tons per year by the end of 2024 and this is compatible with our sustainable value-added production strategy.”
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kırman stated that the global solar energy sector, which was 40 GW in 2010, reached 710 GW in 2020.
He said: “With the contribution of the trends supporting the sector, the global solar energy installed power is expected to increase fourfold by 2030 and exceed 3,000 GW. The USA, which currently provides 3% of its energy needs from solar energy, aims to increase this rate to 40% by 2030 and to 45% by 2050.
“This transformation also accelerates the initiatives of industrial players to transform their energy consumption into green energy sources and to limit their carbon footprints. More and more companies are putting renewable energy investments on their agenda. We believe that this investment will support the development of the rapidly growing solar energy sector in Turkey.”
