Solar Foods Oyj, press release 20 October 2025 at 16:30 EEST
Solar Foods' Factory 01 has reached its productivity targets
Solar Foods' first commercial-scale production facility, Factory 01, has reached production parameters which enable it to operate at full design capacity of 160 tons of Solein annually. The production has been successfully ramped up after a maintenance break during the summer, and Solar Foods continues to develop the production facility's productivity and energy efficiency even further, and the company plans to expand the design capacity of Factory 01 from 160 tons to 230 tons annually during 2026.
Solar Foods' Factory 01 started operations in April 2024. Before a maintenance break during this summer, the production facility had produced Solein continuously for 8 months through gas fermentation technology, using carbon dioxide and hydrogen as the main raw materials of the production process. Solein's cultivation has now been successfully ramped up, and Factory 01 has now reached a productivity of 1 g/l/h and an energy efficiency value (O2/CO2) of 2.7. This enables the production facility to operate at its full design capacity of 160 tons of Solein annually.
"Factory 01 is a globally unique production facility and hydrogen fermentation platform. It's a historic first of its kind for cellular agriculture unlike anything that's ever been built before, incorporating state-of-the art technology into protein production. Successfully scaling our technology up a hundredfold compared to our pilot facility's scale and ramping up the production to reach the full design capacity even earlier than planned are major milestones on the journey of Solein's commercialisation", says Petri Tervasmäki, Chief Technology Officer at Solar Foods.
At its full production capacity of 160 tons annually, Factory 01's bioreactor grows the same amount of Solein protein per day as a 300-cow dairy farm would produce milk protein - and does this all while being entirely decoupled from the demands and environmental stresses of traditional agriculture. Solein's production technology enables food production anywhere in the world, as production is not dependent on weather, climate conditions, or land use. The continuous production process is developed and patented by Solar Foods.
Extending the capacity of Factory 01 before Factory 02 is operational
Factory 01 is the first step in a much larger journey. Already before the maintenance break, Factory 01 reached production parameters that would make Solar Foods' next production facility, Factory 02, profitable. Factory 02 will significantly scale up Solar Foods' production capacity, and the first phase of Factory 02 is planned to be operational in 2028.
As the pre-engineering of Factory 02 is progressing, Solar Foods will also continue developing the productivity and energy efficiency of Factory 01 even further and plans to implement productivity improvements demonstrated at its pilot facility, increasing Factory 01's annual design capacity from 160 tons to 230 tons in 2026. The company has already achieved a productivity of 1.6 g/l/h and an energy efficiency value (O2/CO2) of 2.6 at its pilot facility and aims to bring the parameters achieved on a pilot scale to the Factory 01 scale, as improving efficiency significantly lowers the production cost of Solein.
Additional information:
Petri Tervasmäki, CTO, petri.tervasmaki@solarfoods.com, tel. +358 10 592 3870
Images for editorial use: www.solarfoods.com/media
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What is Solein?
Solein is an all-purpose protein grown with the air we breathe: The unique bioprocess takes a single microbe, one of the billion different ones found in nature, and grows it by fermenting it using air and electricity. Solein is a nutritionally rich and versatile ingredient which can replace protein virtually in any food. Solein can also be used as a fortifier to complement the nutritional profile of various foods: it can be a source of iron, fibre and B vitamins, and it can also bring different techno-functionalities into food products. Learn more at www.solein.com.
About Solar Foods
Solar Foods produces Solein®, a protein created using carbon dioxide and electricity. This innovative production method is independent of weather and climate conditions, eliminating the need for traditional agriculture. Founded in Finland in 2017, Solar Foods is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. Learn more at www.solarfoods.com and investors.solarfoods.com.
