Smooth integration GEA

SMOOTH INTEGRATION

GEA is one of the largest suppliers of systems and components for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. Its extensive portfolio includes machinery and plant equipment as well as advanced process technology, components and comprehensive services.

Founded in 1881, GEA has continued to develop and set new standards to meet the needs of the market and its customers. With more than 18,000 employees, the group generated revenue of over €4.6 billion in fiscal year 2020.

A major focus is on continuously enhancing the sustainability and efficiency of customers’ production processes. GEA plants, processes and components help achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions, plastics use and food waste in manufacturing worldwide. In this way, GEA makes a decisive contribution toward a sustainable future, fully in line with its corporate philosophy of “engineering for a better world.”

Leading the sustainable way

The group’s long-term success is based on a number of major global trends, including continuous growth in the global population; a growing middle class; increasing demand for high-quality foods and beverages and greater demand for efficient production methods that also conserve valuable resources.

The company’s performance and efforts towards a greener world have been acknowledged several times with awards. In March 2021, GEA for the first time attained the ranking of “Gold Standard” in the EcoVadis sustainability assessment. This achievement puts the company among the top 2% of all companies in the mechanical engineering sector ranked by EcoVadis.

Stefan Klebert, CEO of GEA Group AG, commented on this success: “GEA is one of the world’s major suppliers of machinery and plant to multiple critical industries, notably food and beverage and pharmaceuticals. This makes it all the more important that we manage our supply chain in a responsible manner. Winning Gold in this ranking strengthens our commitment to further expanding our sustainability strategy and activities with all our energy.”

Process integrator

The company is active on many fronts. In view of the growing demand for electric cars and smartphones, for example, and with steadily growing demand for lithium worldwide, GEA supports customers in the realisation of lithium processing plants with a comprehensive range of technologies for the production of pure lithium hydroxide, a key raw material for lithium-ion batteries.

Advanced Metallurgical Group (AMG), Netherlands, decided earlier this year to go for a GEA solution. GEA will supply AMG Lithium GmbH not only with a pre-concentration plant but also with the key crystallisation technology. The battery grade lithium produced in this plant is characterised by extremely low impurity content.

The lithium hydroxide will be produced in a plant operated by AMG Lithium at Chemiepark Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany. The first module will be commissioned in 2023 with an annual capacity of 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. According to AMG Lithium Managing Director Stefan Scherer, additional modules will follow in subsequent years, increasing capacity to up to 100,000 tonnes.

The availability of battery materials is the key driver for the sustainable success of the mega-trends of electromobility and stationary energy storage. The new plant will process the lithium hydroxide so that it can be used in the production of electric vehicle batteries. According to AMG Lithium, this is the first plant in Germany to be able to produce lithium hydroxide to this degree of purity.

Going strong

From yet another sector, GEA has recently received a multi-million Euro equipment order destined for the high-growth plant-based beverages market. The industrial technology group will build a new production plant for producing oat, rice and soy base for beverages and hand it over to Laiterie de Saint-Denis-de-l’Hôtel (LSDH), one of France’s leading manufacturers of liquid food and vegetable products.

All process steps, from the raw material intake of grains and flour to in-line standardisation, will be incorporated into the plant, which is scheduled for stepwise commissioning from mid-2022. As a single source for all components in the extraction process, GEA shows its strength as a process integrator.

What is more, GEA will supply a pilot plant for product development. The project is associated with a European protein research centre and subsidised under a national economic stimulus programme.

These recent contracts are only a few of several other contract awards. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and high prior-year figures, the company saw slight organic revenue growth. In addition, GEA again substantially improved its cash flow, net working capital, and net liquidity.

“Despite the still challenging market environment due to the pandemic, we performed very well in the first quarter of this year, paving the way for a successful fiscal year 2021,” claimed Stefan Klebert. “Positive sales developments in customer industries such as dairy processing, food and pharma more than offset the declines in other industries. GEA is clearly benefiting from its diversified portfolio and its strong service business.” n

NEWS

New developments in Technology & Innovation INDUSTRYNEWS

Spain’s Silence Help Drive UK’s Electric Vehicle Revolution

by Ash Jones

Spanish e-mobility company Silence has opened up its “urban eco-mobility” headquarters in Solihull in the West Midlands as it helps to develop the area into a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing.

The area has seen significant development in recent years as a leader in electrification and green travel within the UK as part of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) initiative to drive economic development in the idea.

The authority’s guidelines are laid out in a strategic economic plan supported by the EU. It has emphasised the need to extend the use of the wide set of innovation infrastructures already available in the region to more businesses, especially to innovation inactive ones.

This also pushes for increased infrastructure towards climate-aiding projects. The report claims the area contains some of the driving innovators for research and development in the furthering of environmental goals.

The West Midlands is also looking to pioneer a plan for a Clean Air Zone this summer when the city of Birmingham is set to launch its vehicle charging scheme aimed at reducing emissions in the area, particularly from petrol and diesel vehicles in the city centre.

This makes it only the second city in the UK, behind Bath, to adopt this policy.

“Solihull makes the perfect location for investment, in the first phase of our launch and establishment of our UK headquarters,” said John Edwards, a founding member of Silence’s UK arm. “Not only is the West Midlands already a hub for electric vehicle businesses and research, but its leaders are focused on eco-mobility and infrastructure.”

Vehicles driving in a Clean Air Zone may need to pay a small fee should their vehicle fail to meet certain emissions targets.

Users can find out beforehand by registering their vehicle with a government service.

Councillor Ian Courts, the leader for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council said the investment shows confidence in the region as a potential hub for “low-carbon activity.”

He added: “Transport currently accounts for 39% of Co2 emissions across the borough. Tackling this area is going to be key to unlocking our low carbon future and achieving our netzero carbon aspirations for the region by 2041.”

Silence has opened its flagship UK retail store on Haslucks Green Road in town, covering an area of over 700 square miles.

The company are set to specialise in all-electric motorcycles and scooters, called “e-motos.” It claims these are equivalent to 50cc and 125cc mopeds and scooters and can travel 91 miles on a single charge.

It will serve both retail and business customers, with the full UK range of Silence e-moto models available for test rides.

Other stores are set to open up in Manchester and London at later dates to allow the company to cover a wider area.

Dan Storer, the Chief Investment Officer at the West Midlands Growth Company, who is the automaker’s official promoter in the region, described its entrance as playing a “strategic moment” for the area’s evolution and growth towards becoming a green hub.

“Building on a robust legacy of spearheading transport innovations, our region has a rigorous proposition to supercharge the future mobility ambitions of industry and Government,” he added.

Electric vehicle markets are continuing to grow exponentially in the UK.

The two-wheel EV market grew by 50% in 2020 and is almost up 300% in the first half of 2021 and by 550% in April alone, the company claims.

It also claims these changes are being adopted across the consumer and business markets.

This may be aided by the UK’s decision last year to ban all fully-petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. The UK is also set to raise its emissions targets ahead of the COP26 summit this November.

Lightweight travel has also seen a boom during the pandemic, particularly for delivery services.

Reports claim that commuters are also choosing greener travel methods or outright choosing to work from home to save on their carbon footprints as part of an increasing trend towards conscious consumption as a result of the pandemic.

Data from the University of Oxford also hints that making a switch towards “micro-mobility” services such as bicycles or electric motorcycles can reduce individual carbon emissions by as much as 84%. The research suggests the average reduction for switching to greener transport methods can reduce average emissions by around 67%.

John Edwards added that the combined issues of urban air quality, congestion and cost are accelerating demand for smaller, affordable electric vehicles have driven up demand for electric vehicles, stating the West Midlands was “the right place to start.”

He said: “We look forward to helping larger West Midlands businesses transform their fleet operations as well as supporting local independent operators such as restaurants and delivery riders to go electric.”

Credit: Silence