European LED and luminaire manufacturer Optogan Group has opened a new manufacturing plant in St Petersburg, Russia. Representing an overall investment of R3.35bn (€80m) it is the largest LED component and module factory in Eastern Europe and the CIS.
The factory, which will employ up to 800 people, covers 15,000m2 of floor space, 5,000m2 of which is taken up by a cleanroom environment. The first production line has an annual production capacity of 360 million LEDs and further capacity extensions are scheduled.
Vladislav Bougrov, general director of the newly opened factory, said that only the first production line had actually been opened, with a production volume of 30 million LEDs a month. “At the end of next year, we will grow the production volume due to the high demand for our products,” he added. Optogan established a unique business model to supply LED core technology for luminaires and support to an extensive network of partners within Russia. In future the luminaire business partner approach will be extended to global level.
Against the trend to establish new LED production facilities solely in the Far East, Optogan says it has found a suitable legislative and infrastructural environment to establish high tech manufacturing in Russia to enable high volume LED output at competitive cost. RUSNANO, the fund to provide investment for technology projects in the Russian Federation has provided support for the company and is one of the major shareholders.