LNG tanks and biodiesel equipment new areas for Österberg Group
ÖSTERBERG GROUP has expanded rapidly in recent years, mainly through acquisitions. The latest addition to the group of ten subsidiaries is West Welding, a manufacturer of highly specialised pressure vessels. West Welding is one of few companies in Europe able to build LNG tanks.
“We do everything in-house, from engineering and design to welding and construction”, explains CEO Janne Halonen.
LNG tanks, as well as West Welding’s other products, face extremely high demands; the materials stored in pressure vessels are usually hazardous and leakage could cause great damage. No wonder that West Welding has more than 230 different welding certificates which serve as proof of quality.
MATIAS ÖSTERBERG of Österberg Group says that the decision to acquire a lion’s share of West Welding was based on the special expertise the company has: “We see great potential in LNG and the niche expertise West Welding represents.”
West Welding fits well into Österberg Group, which consists of ten subsidiaries in the metal and plastic industries. In addition to new acquisitions, the group also continually invests in new machinery to enhance automation in its existing companies. Wel-Mach, for example, invested in a highly automated machining centre in 2019.
ÖSTERBERG GROUP is today expanding into new areas. The same kind of equipment that has earlier been used in fur farming can be used for manufacturing biogas and biodiesel.
“We offer EPC deliveries in this field, together with our partners. The raw-material used in the process consists of different kinds of offal from the meat-processing sector. The outcome is biobased fuels”, Österberg explains.
These are not the only sustainable efforts the group has made; the roof of its facilities in Vaasa were recently covered with solar panels.
“We were surprised to realise that solar power today is economically sound even in Finland. Now 8 percent of the electricity we use comes from solar power.”
