“It's not just here in Sweden that people are complaining about the weather and energy prices. These cold temperatures aren’t something I welcome personally, but they are good news for business, "says Per Egeberg.
“It does not really affect the economic calculation, as that is a judgment made over time, but there is increasing interest in energy efficiency and customers themselves are actively looking for what we can offer. So this kind of weather gives us some good leads.”
And good leads are important. Industrial sales at this level take time and you need good references, preferably local ones.
“Switzerland is a good example,” continues Egeberg. “We won our first order there in 2008, and then we saw the knock-on effect. In recent months we have picked up orders from Adelboden, Stans and Winterthur Wyden, the second order from the same city. Stans and Winterthur Wyden are smaller installations while Adelboden is slightly larger. All these orders will be delivered during the first half of 2011.”
Opcon’s flue gas condensation plants deliver increased energy efficiency of up to 30 percent, so the client starts earning money off them very quickly. The wetter the fuel, the more power delivered by the condenser. Meanwhile, the particle emissions in the flue gases are eliminated.
“The interesting thing about Switzerland is that the purification of flue gases that our equipment delivers is also an important selling point. In most countries, emissions standards are still not so stringent, and customers are mainly interested in how much energy and money we can save for them. In Switzerland, we can often sell the wet electrostatic precipitator, i.e. additional purification equipment, in addition to the condenser to reduce particle emissions even further. We are talking about reductions of over 75 percent,” says Egeberg.
Otherwise it’s the energy efficiency delivered by the RenergiTM condenser that is driving its international expansion. With installations at well over 100 sites and customers in more than ten countries, including in 2010 the first customers in the Czech Republic and Poland, the future looks bright for Per Egeberg.
“It takes time, effort and resources to build an export market. But we have come a long way. Our products are in great demand right now. In Sweden we were an early starter in bioenergy."
"A 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency – can you give someone a better Christmas present?” asks Per Egeberg.
Read more about the market in Switzerland in the latest issue of RenergiNews: