Tailor-made thermal systems

“Flexibility is what makes our offer unique. Each heat substation is produced on the basis of an individual design; tailor-made production provides a guarantee that it will be adjusted to the network parameters and internal installations. Our client can order everything that makes sense from a thermal point of view, and we can make everything, from the initial project up to the final installation and start-up,” says Slawomir Jarecki, vice president of Elektrotermex, based in Ostroleka, Poland, a leading producer of heat substations and thermal insulation of pipelines.

Elektrotermex was established in 1988, with 100 per cent Polish capital. Initially it employed a few people and was based in a small basement of a rented private detached house. The stockroom was in the garage. Now Elektrotermex employs 140 people and its headquarters and factory cover an area of two hectares, which is fully owned by the company. The production facility has an area of 3500m2. The company’s annual sales are estimated at more than PLN 45 million and profit for 2011 at more than PLN 2 million. Specialists in compact heat substations

A heat substation is a device which converts the water parameters in a municipal heating network into parameters appropriate for the installation of a heated facility. The heat distribution system allows for regulation of the parameters of water in the central heating installation, as well as their remote monitoring and reading.

Elektrotermex, as the first such company in Poland, started production of compact heat substations. “It was 1992 when we pro-

duced the first ever compact heat substation in Poland. Earlier we tried to install this kind of heat substation imported from Denmark. However, it didn’t work properly since the substation was designed for different working conditions. So we decided to make our own, original compact heat substation. It met with great enthusiasm from our clients,” explains Mr Jarecki.

Elektrotermex’s annual production capacity is around 1600 substations (140 units per month). “What also makes our offer unique is the fact that the modular structure of the system allows for its manual transportation into a selected facility through narrow cellar corridors and door frames,” Mr Jarecki continues. “Each system is made in our factory, which enables us to put it together in more favourable conditions. Then it is delivered free-of-charge to any place in Poland. Furthermore, the well-thought-out structure of the system allows for easy access to all devices of the heat distribution system during its standard operation.”

In the early 1990s the company was selling its products locally in Ostroleka and close surroundings. Then it expanded throughout Poland taking part in public auctions. It won many of them, including the big ones financed by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Entrance to the prestigious Warsaw market was a breakthrough point in the company’s history.

“Now Poland is our key market,” says Mr Jarecki. “But we have also been selling our products abroad, mainly to Kaliningrad Oblast, which is very close to Ostroleka. Some substations have been exported to Serbia and Kosovo. Quite recently, just a few days ago, we established our sales representative in China. The export activity helped us to survive the recent financial crisis in relatively good condition, as many local investments and installation repairs have been suspended.”

Range of products

Elektrotermex makes various types of heat substations. EC single-function heat substation type systems supply a building solely for the purposes of central heating, e.g. factory halls, warehouses, shops, etc. They may also be used in the modernisation of central heating installations in residential buildings, in which the users have hot water from other sources (e.g. gas heaters).

ECWR, a two-function heat substation is the heat distribution system which operates in a system of parallel connection of the exchanger of central heating with the exchanger for preparation of tap water. The operation of the central heating system and the hot water system is completely inde-

pendent. The ECWR type systems supply facilities with a high disproportion in demand for heating power for the needs of central heating and hot tap water; heating networks with low available pressures; and systems where the main selection criterion is low investment output. ECWS two-function heat substation operate in serial-and-parallel circuit of the central heating system with the hot tap water preparation system.

Elektrotermex also offers large heating stations of several MW power, most often assembled in large new office and residential facilities. “Several prestigious projects of this type are the best recommendation and confirmation of our potential”, says Mr Jarecki. “The most important of them include the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, the Olympic Centre in Warsaw and the Heweliusz Hotel in Gdansk.”

Elektrotermex also produces the ETX-PUR thermal insulation pipe covers in fish-plates from rigid polyurethane foam with galvanized iron, sheet aluminium and the “Izofrex” foil coating for overhead pipeline heat distribution networks with pipes from 200 to 1600 mm in diameter.

The company has the necessary technical approvals and sanitary certificates, and has passed the self-extinguishing tests carried out by the Department of Fire Research of the Building Research Institute in Warsaw. Elektrotermex has also implemented ISO 9001:2000 system, is certified by BVQI, and all its systems bear the CE mark as a confirmation of compliance with the EU directives. n

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