Greek projects a priority for METKA
Greek industrial conglomerate Mytilineos is preparing a dynamic entry into large-scale public works and new economic sectors associated with sustainable development, drawing on European financial resources for rebooting the Greek economy and the know-how of its business arm, METKA.
“We had to move house in the last decade and settled into the Middle East and Africa, where the company thrived mainly due to thermal power stations. We have important comparative advantages that will allow us to participate dynamically in the Greek economy’s reboot package in the sectors of the future, i.e. of sustainable development,” company founder Evangelos Mytilineos tells Kathimerini on the occasion of METKA’s transformation into an autonomous general division of Mytilineos, announced last week.
Apart from the construction of thermal power stations and selected construction projects traditionally carried out by the business unit, its activity is being further strengthened with sustainable development projects, as Mytilineos adapts the expertise of the METKA EPC (Engineering – Procurement – Construction) business unit to sustainable development solutions. The company plans to continue building on its competitive advantage in thermal power plants and to expand further into the field of transmission and distribution. It is also seeking to grow in the field of infrastructure, through public-private partnership (PPP) projects and other projects requiring a high level of know-how, as part of efforts to reboot the Greek economy in the post-coronavirus era, which include several major projects.
The company’s strategic plan in the area of sustainable development aims at solid waste and wastewater management projects, hybrid and off-grid energy projects, energy upgrading projects and innovative energy projects (e.g. hydrogen projects). Key to these aims is the contribution of Zeologic in solid waste and wastewater management development projects. The company is headquartered in Thessaloniki in northern Greece and became a part of the Mytilineos portfolio in early 2019. Zeologic provides innovative solutions in the solid waste and wastewater treatment sector and constitutes the driver for the further expansion of Mytilineos’ activities into environmental projects and circular economy.
In order to carry out this strategic plan, the company is also planning changes to its organizational structure, focusing on four key characteristics: A flexible and efficient structure, with an emphasis on cost optimization in the execution of projects, separation of duties, and performance follow-up and maximization in the company’s other business units.
Public works
Large-scale public works represent a market the company is planning to re-enter under the new constitutional framework being introduced by the government that will put an end to the big discounts and excessive budget revisions of projects. The new legislation enforces terms for ensuring the financial status of the companies participating in a tender and takes into consideration their previous record in the execution of projects. The new rules are aimed at ensuring that the procedures for assigning public works are governed by transparency and meritocracy.
Given this new environment, Mytilineos, with its robust financial position and driven by METKA know-how, is making an entry, foreseeing annual revenues at a level of 1 billion euros a year and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the order of €130 million for EPC business unit projects.
“Empowered by sheer optimism and with great confidence, we are embarking into the sustainable solutions field, while claiming a presence in the great effort for the country’s restructuring. After years, the company is returning to Greece, without giving up on opportunities abroad,” Mytilineos tells Kathimerini.
The background
Mytilineos opened the country’s first industrial production plant in 1964 in Nea Ionia in Volos, central Greece, and established itself in the local market with complex steel structures. Over more than 50 years of evolution and transformation, it expanded into integrated projects in the energy and infrastructure markets.
With a portfolio of projects stretching from bridges, sports facilities and port equipment to mines and industrial and petrochemical facilities, METKA turned to the development of gas-fired electricity production in early 2000, carrying out several projects abroad. It set up METKA EGN in 2016 in response to the challenges of a rapidly growing global market of photovoltaic and hybrid projects. METKA EGN is a strong EPC contractor across the entire range of photovoltaic projects and energy storage applications, ranging from solar farms and energy storage to complex hybrid projects with a customer base encompassing some of the leading investors worldwide.
Its integrated reference projects exceed 1 gigawatt in Europe, Africa, Asia, Central and Southern America and Australia, and over 100 megawatts of energy storage projects in the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Over the last decade, METKA has succeeded in establishing its position as an internationally acclaimed EPC company for large electricity generation projects in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as well as of photovoltaic and hybrid projects in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States and Australia.
It is currently in the process of making a comeback in the Greek market, while the METKA projects business unit has been merged with Mytilineos since 2017, focusing on large-scale public works, sustainable development and circular economy.
