Şişecam announced its decision to increase the capacity of its second frosted glass furnace in Mersin, Turkey, from 180 thousand tonnes to 244 thousand tonnes per year. The company will also increase its yearly capacity of energy glass processing line from 20 million square metres to 26.6 million square metres. This move will support Şişecam’s leading position in the Turkish energy glass industry, as well as reinforcing its strong position in the global glass industry.
Concerning the move, which will increase the total investment amount of two projects to EUR 228 million inclusive of working capital requirements, Şişecam’s Chairman and Executive Member of the Board Dr. Ahmet Kırman said, “While the cost of energy increases, the decrease in the costs of generating electricity from solar energy and the sustainability focus in the global arena offer new opportunities in the frosted glass and energy glass industries. With this strategic move Şişecam’s installed frosted glass production capacity will reach 324 thousand tonnes per year by the end of 2024 and this is compatible with our sustainable value-added production strategy.”
Dr. Kırman stated that the global solar energy sector, which was 40 GW in 2010, reached 710 GW in 2020 and added, “With the contribution of the trends supporting the sector, the global solar energy installed power is expected to increase fourfold by 2030 and exceed 3,000 GW. The USA, which currently provides 3 percent of its energy needs from solar energy, aims to increase this rate to 40 percent by 2030 and to 45 percent by 2050. This transformation also accelerates the initiatives of industrial players to transform their energy consumption into green energy sources and to limit their carbon footprints. More and more companies are putting renewable energy investments on their agenda. We believe that this investment will support the development of the rapidly growing solar energy sector in Turkey.”