Daikin Europe kicked off construction of its EMEA Development Center in Ghent and announces new investments in production site in Ostend
Brussels, 19 May 2022 – Today, Daikin Europe N.V. kicked off the construction works for its new EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Development Center building in Ghent, Belgium. This € 140 million investment will bring together all heat pump heating and refrigeration R&D activity in one central knowledge hub. At the same time, the company announced additional investments for its heat pump production capacity, with another production line in Ostend, Belgium. Combined with the production line that has been inaugurated in April, the company invests € 23 million in its Ostend plant.
With these investments in both product development and production capacity, Daikin Europe emphasizes its commitment to take the lead in the race towards a carbon-neutral society. With its new building, Daikin’s EMEA Development Center (EDC) will cement its position as the leader in innovation in heat pump and refrigeration technology for the global group. Earlier this year, this investment won the Foreign Investment of the Year Trophy 2022 by Flanders Investment & Trade, a clear recognition of its importance.
The new site of EDC Ghent will be located at the Technology Park in Zwijnaarde and will consist of 14 office floors and a technical building. Daikin aims to create a unique innovative ecosystem, in close cooperation with the University of Ghent. Part of the building will be reserved for innovative start-ups and spin-offs. The building will be completed by April 2024 and house 400 engineers. For this, Daikin Europe is actively searching new recruits.
Crucial in this R&D center will be the technical building, which will house no less than 22 test chambers. These test chambers are essential in Daikin’s product development to simulate operating effectiveness and efficiency under extreme climate conditions. Centrepiece will be the double EMC test chamber, in which devices are tested for electromagnetic interference. Daikin Europe will be one of the very few companies in the industry in Europe to operate this scale of testing capacity in-house.
EDC Ghent will become a global R&D hub that builds on Daikin’s own knowledge and experience, but also on the research being done right here at the University of Ghent and the innovations that come from new spin-offs and start-ups.”, says Toshitaka Tsubouchi, President of Daikin Europe. “This way, EDC Ghent will become a real pressure cooker for technological development and innovation for the next century in the existence of Daikin.”
New investments in Ostend will quadruple production capacity
The demand for heat pumps is rapidly increasing in Europe. This is driven by the many initiatives of Belgian and European authorities to promote this carbon neutral heating technology. To meet increasing demand, Daikin Europe today also announced a new investment in its production capacity in Ostend.
With this new production line, Daikin will more than double its Belgian production capacity for heat pumps by the Summer of 2023. The same plant already announced it had doubled its capacity with the inauguration of another new heat pump production line in April. These two new lines represent a total investment of € 23 million. Investments like these reaffirm Daikin Europe’s commitment to keep its production facilities close to the market.
“This new investment further highlights our commitment towards Ostend and Flanders as a key production site for Daikin Europe”, comments Wim De Schacht, Vice President of Daikin Europe. “All this is part of our ambitious Fusion 25 plan, which we unveiled last year. Daikin Europe is investing € 840 million by 2025, creating no less than 4,000 new jobs in Europe.”
Fact Sheet EDC Ghent
- Location: Technology Park Zwijnaarde
- Total floor area: 30.600 m²
- 12.000 m² laboratory and test chambers
- Rest is offices and support infrastructure
- BREEAM “Excellent” label
- Investment amount: EUR 140 MIO
- Final number of employees: 400 -> unites all R&D staff from Ostend and Ghent
- Up from current: 250+
- 100 to be recruited in 2022
- Office building with 14 floors
- One floor reserved for start-ups
- Technical building with 22 test chambers
- Initiate testing activities as from 2023
- Completion of entire site by April 2024
About Daikin
Air is essential to our existence. It has always been Daikin’s mission to make the air we breathe and live in the best possible. Our innovative products and solutions are designed to improve people’s health and well-being and reduce the environmental impact of heating and cooling. By 2050 Daikin aims to be carbon neutral throughout the full value chain and the full life cycle of its products and solutions.
Daikin Europe N.V.
Daikin Europe N.V. is a subsidiary of Daikin Industries Ltd. and the leading provider of heating, cooling, ventilation, air purification and refrigeration technology. The company designs, manufactures and brings to market a broad portfolio of equipment, as well as tailored-made solutions for residential, commercial and industrial purposes in Europe, Middle East and Africa. To date Daikin Europe N.V. has over 12 000 employees across more than 24 EMEA affiliates. It has 12 major manufacturing facilities based in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Austria and the UK. The headquarters of the Daikin Europe Group are in Belgium, Ostend. The company was established in 1972, production in Europe started in 1973.
Total Solution provider for heating, cooling, ventilation and refrigeration
Daikin Europe can rely on a strong network of installers and partners across its regions thanks to nearly 50 years of innovative and energy efficient air conditioning systems business development.
To date, Daikin Europe is also market leader for Heat Pumps in Europe and well known for the Daikin Altherma hydronic heat pumps for private heating applications, which it pioneered in 2006. With high demand for low carbon heating in Europe, these heat pumps are made in the Belgian, Czech and Germany factories in Europe.
In recent years, Daikin Europe has added total solutions for the cold chain to its lines of business. Next to own refrigeration innovations, the company expanded its portfolio and network through several acquisitions. In 2016 Daikin Europe N.V. acquired Zanotti, Italian manufacturer of industrial and transport refrigeration. In 2017, Hubbard (UK) was integrated into the group, shortly followed by Tewis Smart Systems (Spain). The most recent acquisition to reinforce the full line up for retail cold chain was the global refrigeration group AHT Cooling Systems GmbH, headquartered in Austria.
About Daikin Industries Ltd.
Daikin Industries Ltd. based in Osaka, Japan, employs around 89,000 people worldwide and achieved sales of € 23.7 billion in financial year 2021 (1 April 21 – 31 March 22). The company is the global market leader for heat pump and air conditioning systems, as well as air filtration. Daikin Industries Ltd. is the only air conditioning manufacturer in the world that develops and produces all important components such as refrigerants, compressors and electronics in-house.
Read more on www.daikin.eu and www.daikin.com.
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