Solar Foods selects Lappeenranta for Factory 02 as Solein scale-up plans advance

Solar Foods has chosen Lappeenranta, Finland, as the location for Factory 02, its planned industrial-scale production facility for Solein, marking a significant step in the company’s scale-up strategy. The site, located in Selkäharju, would host Solar Foods’ first large-scale manufacturing plant and increase annual production capacity from 160 tons at Factory 01 to 6,400 tons once fully built.

The company said the final investment decision for Factory 02 was expected to be made during 2026. Ahead of that decision, Solar Foods had evaluated potential locations both in Finland and internationally before selecting Lappeenranta as the most suitable option for advancing the design and construction of the facility in line with its current plans.

According to Solar Foods, the Selkäharju site offered strong advantages in terms of electricity availability and the potential to integrate into the city’s district heating network. The location decision was also influenced by the price and availability of renewable energy, the reliability of infrastructure, water and wastewater systems, and the overall constructability of the site. Additional factors included permitting processes, opportunities to build an ecosystem with strategic partners and other stakeholders, access to a skilled workforce, and financing options for a project of this scale.

“We had several excellent location options for Factory 02. We chose the site in Lappeenranta, Finland, because at this stage, it provides Solar Foods with the best conditions to proceed with the design and construction of the production facility according to our plans,” said Tiia Kuusimäki, Chief Operating Officer at Solar Foods. She added that the company would continue to assess other locations for future Solein production facilities.

Factory 02 was planned as a cornerstone of Solar Foods’ near-term growth, supporting the commercialization of Solein, a protein produced using gas fermentation. During the year, the company had signed Memorandums of Understanding and Letters of Intent with four international customers covering a combined annual volume of 6,500 to 7,650 tons of Solein. Solar Foods said that if these agreements progressed to binding contracts, the committed volumes would represent around 100 to 120% of the full 6.4 kiloton annual capacity planned for Factory 02.

Beyond the Lappeenranta project, Solar Foods said it was planning an international network of Solein production facilities. The company identified future opportunities in regions including the Nordics, the USA, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, reflecting its view that Solein production could be deployed globally.

“Solein’s production is not dependent on land use, weather or climate, and we can produce it every day of the year anywhere on Earth, even in areas where food production is typically difficult or even impossible,” Kuusimäki said.

Solar Foods also outlined a partner-led approach to the engineering and implementation of Factory 02. Rather than delivering the project entirely in-house, the company decided to work with a network of strategic partners, allowing it to focus more closely on developing its core gas fermentation technology and biology, as well as on the global commercialization of Solein.

Under this model, Solar Foods aimed to select two to three strategic partners to take responsibility for key elements of the project, such as real estate, hydrogen production, electricity grids, and cooling and heating capacity. The company said this approach would significantly reduce its own financing needs for Factory 02 and could also be applied to future production facilities.

Construction of Factory 02 was planned to take place in phases. The first phase would have a design capacity of 3.2 kilotons per year and was expected to be operational by the end of 2028. In a second phase, scheduled for the following year, the facility would be expanded to reach the full design capacity of 6.4 kilotons annually. The Selkäharju site also allowed for a potential third phase, which could further increase capacity to 12.8 kilotons per year. Solar Foods said the stated production volumes were based on production parameters that had already been achieved.

To support the project, Solar Foods planned to apply for funding from Business Finland for initiatives linked to low-carbon hydrogen production and storage, as well as carbon capture and utilization, under an IPCEI framework approved by the European Commission. The maximum notified IPCEI grant for Solar Foods was approximately €110 million, around US$120 million, with the remaining eligible funding under the notification amounting to about 66 million euros, or roughly US$72 million. The company said the funding was intended to partially cover the construction costs of Factory 02, although no funding decision had yet been made.

With the site now selected and early commercial discussions underway, Solar Foods said Factory 02 would form the backbone of its next stage of growth, enabling it to move from demonstration-scale production toward industrial volumes while laying the groundwork for a broader global manufacturing footprint.