With the funding granted, the company has transformed its energy management by installing a solar power plant to produce more sustainably and competitively.
A 100 kW solar power plant was installed on the roof of a factory in Šiauliai Free Economic Zone in the spring of this year. It generates around 30 per cent of the energy needed by the dental supplies manufacturer and saves around 15 000 kilowatt hours per month – the amount of electricity that the company no longer buys on the market since it has built its own power plant.
According to Rima Žurauskaitė-Storace, Head of Medicinos linija, the idea to build a solar power plant came about during the electricity price spike last year.
“We were one of the first to react to the changes in energy prices. This is due to the specific nature of our production – we produce sensitive medical devices. We use extremely clean production facilities where we control humidity, pressure and temperature all year round, cooling in summer and heating in winter. There is a need to be less dependent on external circumstances and fluctuations in energy prices. Thus, we took the decision to invest in a solar plant,” she says.
The total investment project amounted to EUR 83 200, more than half of which was reimbursed through the funding measure of the Innovation Agency. The head of the company estimates that the return will come in 3–5 years, depending on electricity prices. Without support, the return period would be around 7 years.
The company benefited from the call “Promoting the deployment of renewable energy sources in industrial enterprises operating in the Central and Western Region”. A total of EUR 31.9 million of EU investment was made available to companies under this call.
According to Diana Martinavičė, Head of the Business Promotion Division of the Innovation Agency, it is particularly gratifying when innovative companies such as Medicinos linija combine progressiveness not only in product development but also in production.
“Medicinos linija is the first company to successfully implement a project from the new 2021–2027 funding period, which started at the end of last year, and to install renewable energy sources in its production plant. Success is contagious. We have also received more applications from companies based in Šiauliai, who saw an opportunity to increase their energy independence by producing clean, renewable energy,” comments Ms Martinavičė.
Medicinos linija is the only manufacturer of dental supplies in the Baltic States, exporting 95 per cent of its products to more than 80 countries around the world, where these products are known as the i-dental brand. According to Ms Žurauskaitė-Storace, the company also plans to take advantage of export-promoting funding calls, which would open up new export markets and increase international sales volumes.
The funding portfolio of the Innovation Agency currently totals around EUR 873 million, including the EU Investment for the 2021–2027 financial period (EUR 511.2 million), the Just Transition Fund for the 2021–2027 period (EUR 273 million), the mission-based science and innovation programme funding (EUR 77.7 million), the Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programme (EUR 2.99 million) and the 2022 Lithuanian State Budget funding measures (EUR 2.1 million). This business investment funding will reach Lithuanian businesses throughout the years of the financial period.
