Stiebel Eltron, the Germany-based water-heater maker, is conducting a feasibility study with the aim of setting up of an assembly plant for heat pumps in Thailand.

To be located in the Bangpa-In Industrial Estate alongside its existing water-heater factory, the heat-pump factory will be Stiebel Eltron's first manufacturing operation for heat pumps outside Europe.

In addition to catering to the domestic market, the factory will export heat pumps to Australia and other markets in Asia.

Roland Hoehn, managing director of Stiebel Eltron Asia, said in an exclusive interview with The Nation that the company introduced heat pumps to the Thai market two years ago.

The pumps use atmospheric energy to heat water, achieving an energy savings of up to 80 per cent.

"We are conducting a detailed study of the investment project for a heat pump-assembly factory in Thailand, which will cost about Bt200 million. Our headquarters in Germany will make the decision on the project next month," said Hoehn.

He added that the firm will apply for investment privileges for the new plant from the Board of Investment (BoI).

He said the heat-pump factory would require another five-rai plot and 40 new staff. It will be able to produce about 10,000 units of Stiebel Eltron's WWK 300 GP compact heat pump model per annum.

Stiebel Eltron started its operation in Thailand in 1997, and the Kingdom has become one of its main markets and the centre of its operations in Asia.

The company decided to open a local representative office to take care of the whole Asia region.

Stiebel Eltron started work on its water-heater factory in Bangpa-In Industrial Estate in January 2006. The factory employs about 40 workers, and about 80 per cent of its parts are made and supplied locally by sub-contracted manufacturers. About 30 per cent of the water heaters are exported to more than 30 markets around the world, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

Hoehn added that the new factory would import all heat-pump parts from Germany for local assembly.

With an average price of more than Bt100,000 the main buyers of heat pumps are hotels.

"The whole world is moving toward saving energy, and using renewable energy.

Heat-pump technology is eco-friendly and widely used in Europe, Australia and Japan, and now we are planning to invest in this technology in Thailand," said Hoehn.

Hoehn said 2008 was another good year for Stiebel Eltron in Thailand, with sales up by 30 per cent from 2007.

"I am a bit afraid for 2009, regarding the economic difficulty. We are looking at our costs and trying to reduce them a bit. We have great concerns about our staff and I will try my best to keep them all," he said.

He added that the company had achieved 10-per-cent growth so far this year compared to the same period of 2008.

"We want to sell 100,000 water heaters domestically this year, which is up 10 per cent over last year," said Hoehn.

Stiebel Eltron will launch its two newest water-heater models, the Digital IL model and the AIR energy- and water-saving model, at prices of Bt7,000 and Bt4,000 respectively.

The new products will serve the coming water-heater season, which will runs from October to January. The company will kick off a big marketing campaign this year to celebrate its 85th anniversary