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GEA has announced a €50 million investment into the modernisation of its centrifuge production facilities in Olede (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Niederahr (Rhineland-Palatinate) Germany. The funding will be used to invest in sustainable production, digitalisation, automation and modern manufacturing technologies, with GEA targeting further growth in its key markets (food, beverage and pharmaceutical). GEA centrifuges are used in over 3,500 different processes in a range of industries. Growth drivers include applications for alternative protein production and global demand for dairy products. GEA’s CEO, Stefan Klebert, said: “With the investments announced today, we are future-proofing our sites by producing in an even more climate-friendly, efficient and modern way. As a result, we strengthen the competitiveness of both of these German sites.” At the Olede facility, “several large-scale photovoltaic systems will cover about one-tenth of the site’s electricity requirements.” GEA says that process heat generation will be converted to alternatives such as electric steam generation, enabling both the Olede and Niederahr sites to operate without gas in the future. Klaus Stojentin, CEO of GEA's separation and flow technologies division, added: "I am pleased that the planned investments will make the world's largest GEA site in Oelde strong for the upcoming decades. Due to our tradition, expertise and pioneering spirit, GEA is one of the global technology leaders in centrifuge production.” He continued: “We are proud to be able to expand our production facilities to better support our customers with first-class products for their manufacturing processes”.