October 13 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Zlatna Panega Cement, a unit of Greek building materials manufacturer Titan Group, is investing some 4 million euro ($4.2 million) in a 5-MW solar plant set to generate 15% of the company's electricity, its general manager said.
The solar plant is slated for completion in March 2024, with plans to double its capacity within the next two years, Adamantios Frantzis said in response to a SeeNews question at a presentation of the company's integrated annual report for 2022 on Thursday. However, delays caused by administrative procedures and pending permits may push back the project by one to two months.
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The company also allocated 7 million euro to update its alternative fuels plant this year, aiming to increase the share of such fuels to 70% in the next few years from 50% in 2022.
"And then the next big project that needs to be addressed, […] should start [...] between three and five years time from now – it is an upgrade of the whole processing unit, actually a major rehabilitation of the processing unit with a consignment, which is going to be an investment of 35-50 million euro," Frantzis said.
Zlatna Panega Cement turned a net profit of 340,000 euro in 2022, compared to a net loss of 2.2 million euro a year earlier, according to its annual report. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 14% on the year to 4.7 million euro, while revenue jumped by 21% to 54.1 million euro.
At the same time, capital investments totalled some 5.7 million euro in 2022, up from 2.6 million euro the year before.
In terms of sustainability, Zlatna Panega Cement aims to reduce direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions by 5,000 and 3,000 tonnes per year, respectively, working towards reaching zero emissions by 2050. Last year, the company reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by an annual 4% and its natural gas consumption by 60%.
Zlatna Panega Cement operates concrete units in Sofia and Plovdiv, in addition to its cement plant in the village of Zlatna Panega. Alongside other companies, it owns quarries for sand, gravel and crushed stone extraction.
Titan Group is owned by Belgium-based Titan Cement International, which is listed in Brussels, Paris and Athens.
($ = 0.9417 euro)