The archive · Climate & Energy · Technical decision · 2017–2026
Solar Foods' Factory 01 makes protein from air at full 160-ton capacity
Solar Foods grows Solein protein from CO2, hydrogen and electricity; Factory 01 hit full 160-ton annual capacity by late 2025, with Factory 02 planned for 2028.
Solar Foods Oyj
What the business is
Producing Solein, a protein ingredient grown by fermenting a microbe with carbon dioxide and hydrogen from renewable electricity, and selling it to food and nutrition brands.
How it started
Solar Foods was founded in 2017 as a spinoff from Finland's VTT research center and LUT University to grow protein without agriculture. Solein's first regulatory approval came from Singapore's Food Agency in September 2022 — the first country to clear the ingredient — before any production facility existed.
What happened
Factory 01 in Vantaa started operations in April 2024, a 100-fold scale-up of the pilot process, and ran continuously for eight months before a summer 2025 maintenance break. Solar Foods listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland in 2024, secured self-affirmed GRAS status in the US in September 2024, began US commercialization, then filed an FDA GRAS notification in September 2025.
How it ended up
In October 2025 Factory 01 reached full design capacity of 160 tons of Solein a year — the daily protein output equivalent of a 300-cow dairy farm — with expansion to 230 tons planned for 2026. In June 2026 Solar Foods won €77.8M ($89.2M) in Business Finland grants and loans for Factory 02, conditional on a final investment decision expected during 2026; phase one (3,200 tons/year) is planned to open in 2028.
Background
Solar Foods, founded in Finland in 2017 as a spinoff from VTT and LUT University, produces Solein, a protein ingredient grown by fermenting a microbe with carbon dioxide, hydrogen and renewable electricity — no farmland, weather or animal feed involved.
The bet was that this protein from air could leave the lab and become real food production. Singapore approved Solein as a novel food in September 2022, the first country to do so. Factory 01 in Vantaa began operations in April 2024 as the world's first commercial-scale air-protein facility, scaling the pilot process a hundredfold into a 20,000-liter bioreactor.
By October 2025 the factory had reached full design capacity of 160 tons a year — the equivalent daily protein output of a 300-cow dairy farm — and Solar Foods planned to expand it to 230 tons in 2026. The company listed on Nasdaq First North, secured self-affirmed GRAS status in the US in 2024, and filed an FDA GRAS notification in September 2025.
In June 2026 Business Finland committed €77.8M to Factory 02, conditional on a final investment decision expected during 2026; phase one (3,200 tons/year) is planned for 2028. First consumer products, including Planta protein powder in the US, have launched, but revenue is still small relative to the investment.
What has to be true
- Singapore's 2022 novel-food approval created a regulatory beachhead before a factory existed.
- Factory 01 was designed as an economics proof — hitting pilot-derived productivity at 100x scale — not just a technology demonstration.
- Producing without agriculture removes weather, land and feed-price volatility from the cost base.
- Listing on Nasdaq First North in 2024 widened access to capital without a full IPO.
What can be applied
A radical technology scales by making the first unit an economics test: Factory 01 verified pilot productivity at 100x scale, which is what made the larger Factory 02 investment decision possible.
Aftermath
As of September 2026, Factory 01 runs at its 160-ton design capacity, with expansion to 230 tons planned in 2026. Solar Foods is preparing the Factory 02 final investment decision (phase one: 3,200 tons/year, planned 2028), backed by €77.8M in conditional Business Finland funding. Solein products are on sale in the US (Planta) and Singapore, with MOUs covering up to 6,000 tons a year. Pending decisions: EU novel-food approval expected in 2026, FDA no-questions letter by end of 2026. Revenue remains small and Factory 02 economics are unproven, but the scaling question has been answered.
Sources
- Solar Foods confirms successful 100-fold industrial scaling of Solein's production technology
- Solar Foods' Factory 01 has reached its productivity targets
- Solar Foods has submitted a GRAS notification on Solein in the United States to obtain a no questions letter from the FDA
- Solar Foods wins $89.2m backing for 'protein from air' factory, but final investment decision still pending
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