Berger Meat Factory

The integration of solar thermal into two processes of meat production is a great success story for the food industry

Fleischwaren Berger, located in Sieghartskirchen near Vienna, exists since over 125 years and produces different types of ham. The company is family-owned and family-run has a strong focus on local supply and sustainability and was therefore happy to find in SOLID a tusted partner for realization of a large scale solar plant for its industrial processes.

Berger Meat Factory

Technical Specifications & Special Features

Collector area
1,068 m²
Buffer Volume
60 m³
Commissioning
2013
CO₂-savings
145 t/a

Ham made by the sun

Fleischwaren BERGER is a well known high-quality ham producer in Austria.

SOLID was part of the European R&D projects “InSun” and “GBE FACTORY”, aiming to demonstrate the reliability of renewable energy for industrial projects. As a very innovative company, Fleischwaren BERGER agreed to invest in solar thermal, besides other renewable energy projects, and to enable a solar process heat demo plant in Austria.

Key reasons for investment:

Long term energy savings
Saftey for the energy supply and energy costs
CO₂ Savings
Public relations and marketing tool

SOLID analyzes the energy consumption profile and all production processes. Based on the available data, the customer decided to integrate the solar system as support for:

The heat supply of the dehumidification maturation chambers (heating the process from 40° C up to target temperature of 60° C; approx. 160 m³ per day).
Pre-heating feed water for the steam boiler, used for the ham cooking (heating feed water from 40° C up to 98° C, approx. 25 m³ per day).

Funded by

“Today, sustainable and resource-friendly management is paramount. With our regional.optimal. flagship project and the use of solar energy, we make a special contribution towards supporting our farmers, our region and our environment. We take our responsibility very seriously”,

says Mag. Rudolf Berger
Manager of Fleischwaren Berger

The Berger family is proud of the new solar plant and their contribution to a responsible use of resources: Year after year, the plant saves 62,500 liters of fuel oil, resulting in 145.6 tons of CO₂ saving each year.

PA Berger Solarenergy