AMB in Broakulla is in the final stages of one of the company’s largest investment periods ever. This spring, they inaugurated a 5,500-square-meter expansion, and this week, a solar park was commissioned, allowing AMB to produce more than 30% of its annual energy needs independently.
The parallel investments, totaling approximately SEK 100 million over one and a half years, have mostly gone unseen from the main road since most of the new developments are hidden behind the factory.
“We are in a period of future-proofing,” says AMB CEO Tomas Magnusson. “We have long been cramped, which made further expansion impossible. That’s why we decided to expand our facility by 5,500 square meters to the east, which gives us almost 30 percent more factory and warehouse space. Currently, there is extensive and intensive work to move operations around within the premises to achieve the best possible material flow, while production must continue as usual.”
The idea of generating their own electricity had been considered for quite some time, but it was only in connection with the land acquisition for the expansion that it became physically possible.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding electricity supply in southern Sweden, it felt natural to also invest in our own electricity production when we acquired the land and needed to excavate anyway,” says Tomas Magnusson. “For many years, we have operated our factory entirely on so-called green electricity, but it’s certainly satisfying to also be able to more concretely contribute to lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduced total environmental impact in the long run.”
The solar park covers two hectares and is expected to produce around 2 GWh per year, which corresponds to more than 30 percent of AMB’s total energy consumption.
“Already on the first day after commissioning, all the electricity produced by the solar park went directly into our production,” Tomas notes with satisfaction. “The cheapest kilowatt-hour is the one you never need to buy.”
How quickly the investment pays off naturally depends on the development of electricity prices in the future, but the sustainability aspect has weighed most heavily in the investment decision.
Tomas is part of the third generation of the Magnusson family running AMB.
“When my grandfather co-founded the company nearly 80 years ago, it was exclusively the hydropower from the Lyckeby River that powered the heating elements on the first Bakelite presses,” he says. “Now, we are both happy and proud to once again be able to produce our own energy.”
