mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

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Turning Up
the Heat
on America
A leading manufacturer of solar collectors,
Austrian company Kioto Clear Energy has
discovered an excellent business opportunity
under the Mexican sun.
____
by sandra roblágui
photos courtesy of kioto clear energy
Mexico is harnessing the world’s oldest source of energy
in what is turning out to be a hot business venture.
Three years ago, Kioto Clear Energy, a leading
manufacturer of solar collectors, began soaking up
the sun’s rays in El Salto, Jalisco. This industrial city in Western
Mexico is like a second home to Kioto, boasting the company’s only
production line outside its native Austria.
The story of this multinational literally began in Robert
Kanduth’s backyard, in Austria. Kanduth devised and perfected
a system that could absorb the sun’s energy and use it to heat
water. By 1991, his invention was already on the market. Kanduth
named his company Kioto Clear Energy after the Kyoto Protocol,
aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating global
warming.
Just three years later, in 1994, operations were moved to a
modern 900-square-meter factory specializing in the industrial
manufacture of solar collectors. This is where the GREENoneTEC
product line was born, the same brand that would later become the
leading distributor of solar collectors on the European market. By
2008, the company was exporting parts and finished products to
over 40 countries, and had a facility with an annual production
capacity of 150,000 square meters of solar panels.
As the company looked to expand abroad, Mexico was the
number one choice. The ball began to roll in July 2009 with an initial
investment of 4 million euros in a 3,000-square-meter factory
that employs around 50 people in the manufacture of solar collectors
for residential and industrial use.
Why Mexico? There are several reasons. The country is blessed
with sunny weather nearly all year round, which translates into a
steaming hot domestic market for a company that manufactures
solar-powered water heaters, says director of Kioto’s Mexican
operations, Arturo Meléndez Govea.
The company produces 23,000 square meters of solar collectors
a year in Mexico, while 7 out of every 10 square meters manufactured
are exported.
According to Meléndez, “Mexico is strategically located and has
efficient logistical infrastructure that facilitates exports to the US,
Canada and Central and South America. Mexico also has political
stability and workers skilled in trades like soldering, for example,
which our industry demands.”
From its base in Western Mexico, Kioto Clear Energy exports
components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) throughout
the continent, which are incorporated in the firms’ brands.
The sun has continued to shine on the business, especially in
the US, where the bulk of Kioto’s output ends up. Here, the “heart”
of Kioto’s collectors –a laser-soldered aluminum and copper grille
that offers an unbeatable quality-price ratio– has been welcomed
with open arms.
Kioto doesn’t just make solar panels for Mexico and other
Latin American countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru,
Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Panama, Uruguay and Paraguay, but
entire systems that include tanks, pumps and valves. “We are
in alliance with the top clients on each market,” says Meléndez
with satisfaction.
Growth in Mexico has been exponential, just as occurred in
Kioto’s native Austria. In addition to its foreign sales, the company
supplies solar water heating systems for a range of private
and public sector entities, allowing them to make substantial
savings while contributing to climate change mitigation efforts.
These systems have a useful life of a decade on paper, but their
real life expectancy is closer to 25 years.
Among Kioto’s government clients are two state penitentiaries,
one in Durango and another in Michoacán, where the
company has installed more than 100 systems –each one with
the capacity to heat up 3,000 liters of water– to heat more than
300,000 liters of water per day.
Another important niche is the housing sector, where Kioto is
working hand in hand with construction firms and the Mexican
From its base in Western Mexico, Kioto
Clear Energy exports components to
OEMs throughout the continent, which are
incorporated in the firms’ brands.
government to promote the incorporation of its environmentallyfriendly
technology in government-subsidized homes. Under the
Green Mortgage (Hipoteca Verde) program, Kioto has contracts for
the installation of 5,000 top quality systems before year-end 2012.
“What you can find in Austria, you can find in Mexico, except
that it is cheaper on the latter,” says Meléndez, adding that any
company that uses hot water in its processes –tequila distilleries,
milk pasteurizing plants, slaughterhouses, agricultural and
pharmaceutical companies, among others– can benefit from the
system. And judging from its expansion strategy for 2013, Kioto
plans to serve them all with clean energy produced with the help
of the Mexican sun. n
www.kioto.com