Phoenix to build factory in Rzeszów
Panattoni is planning to build a high-tech BTS factory within the Rzeszów-Dworzysko Science and Technology Park for the E-Mobility division of Phoenix Contact. The building will have a GLA of 14,966 sqm, including 986 sqm of offices while the production and warehouse space will also include a 111 sqm air compressor room, 627 sqm of testing space and a 67 sqm pumping plant. The production space will be fitted with high-tech busbars as well as ESD industrial flooring to dissipate unwanted static electricity. The plant will be used to manufacture state-of-the-art high power charging units for electric vehicles, with the finished components to be exported to more than ten countries in Western Europe. Production is scheduled to start from the beginning of 2021 and the opening of the plant should create 330 jobs. The factory is being built within walking distance of a future high-speed suburban railway station, connecting the factory directly to the centre of Rzeszów. It is also within a 15-minute drive of Rzeszów International Airport and next to the S19 expressway, which will form part of the future Via Carpathia road network that is to eventually connect Klaipėda in Lithuania with Thessaloniki in Greece. The factory is also near to the A4 motorway, which runs west into Germany and east into Ukraine. One of the reasons the company chose the technology park was because it intends to work with research institutions in the region, which includes offering internships and work placements to students from local universities and colleges at the new plant. The new factory is to be BREEAM certified and should attain a rating of ‘Good’. It will have mineral wool roof insulation, a heat recovery system, electric vehicle charging stations, a rainwater collection system, as well as a buffer zone in the warehouse, to limit heat loss from the manufacturing section and to reduce the dust levels within. Phoenix Contact is present in over 100 countries and has around 18,000 employees worldwide.