How Industeam is trying to escape the energy crisis - Les Echos
Article published on the Les Echos
by Pascale Braun (Correspondent in Metz)
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The Franco-Luxembourgish group is equipping its Romanian sites with photovoltaic panels to escape soaring energy prices. It will continue this strategy at its Calais site.
By the end of October, the Industeam East Europe factory in Aiud, Romania, will be powered by its own solar panels, following a 1-million-euro investment. The Franco-Luxembourgish systems integrator, which specializes in the installation and maintenance of industrial complexes worldwide, is looking to escape the surge in electricity prices in a country where it established a network of three companies last year.
"Last January, I learned that our monthly electricity bill was going to jump from 6,000 to 43,000 euros. I immediately cut the power, installed a generator, and commissioned studies for installing photovoltaic panels," recounts Thierry Franceschetti, CEO of the Franco-Luxembourgish group Industeam, which employs a thousand people (including 150 temporary workers) across France, Luxembourg, and Romania. The group expects a turnover of 100 million euros for 2022, 60% of which will be generated in France.
Workforce
The Romanian expansion, which dates back about fifteen years, was already driven by a desire for independence. Anticipating a labor shortage in the mechanical, piping, and electrical trades, Industeam trained Romanian workers from among its subcontractors. These qualified teams now regularly work on international projects.
In 2020, faced with the bankruptcy of one of its main Romanian subcontractors, the group chose to establish three companies there. Cross-shareholding ties now link it to Emsil, which employs 140 people at a machine-tool factory in Oradea and another 100 at an alternator plant in Cluj. Wholly owned by the group, the Industeam East Europe factory is dedicated to equipment supplied to the parent company's clients to ensure industrial confidentiality.
Thierry Franceschetti found the technical resources within his own family to equip his Romanian sites and, by next summer, his workshops in Ehlerange (Luxembourg) and Calais (Hauts-de-France).
Managed by his sister, the Thionville-based company Pilotage will oversee the installation of nearly 62,000 square meters of panels across the three countries. In Romania, the solar investments will be heavily subsidized by the European Union. In France, the 1.5-million-euro project will be 25% co-financed as part of the recovery plan.
