Five million euros have been earmarked for the Tranås factory operated by its Swedish subsidiary, IVT Industrier AB. Scheduled for completion by year-end 2007, this capital spending programme will almost double the production space available at IVT, a European leader in the production of electrical heat pumps.
In addition, Bosch Thermotechnik will spend two million euros on a solar collector production facility at its Aveiro plant in Portugal. Starting February 2007, up to 150,000 collectors will be produced at this factory which is located in the immediate vicinity of Southern Europe’s booming solar thermal markets.

“The use of renewable energies for space heating and domestic water heating is becoming increasingly accepted in Europe. We anticipate double-digit growth rates in this market over the coming years. Building on our innovative systems for the use of regenerative energies and our expanded production facilities, we are excellently positioned to carve out a disproportionate share of this market,“ said Klaus Huttelmaier, member of the management team of the Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH.

IVT’s production space in Tranås will be expanded from 5,000 to 10,000 square metres by the end of 2007. The expansion will be reflected in a higher headcount, with 50 jobs being added at the site. This investment is being driven by the development of the European heat pump market which is expected to grow at annual rates of 10 percent. Bosch Thermotechnik took over IVT, then employing 300 people, in 2004. Plans for an international expansion of the electrical heat pump business were announced by Bosch Thermotechnik already at the time of the acquisition.

Scheduled to start production in December 2006, the new solar collector facility in Aveiro will initially produce copper absorbers. Production of collectors - with a workforce of around 40 people - is scheduled to start in February 2007. Klaus Huttelmaier explains: “Our collector production at Wettringen in the Münsterland region is working at high capacity. Notwithstanding the 2005 expansion of our production space, the installation of new equipment and the optimisation of our processes, we definitely need an additional production facility.”