Innovation and sustainability: how Thielco is transforming the industry

Juliëtte Heldens runs Thielco, a Limburg family business that has been producing high-quality gratings and galvanising steel for the automotive, construction and offshore industries since 1950. ‘My grandfather was one of the “co’s” in Thiel & Co. I am the third generation and I took over as director from my father two years ago.’

Each year, Thielco makes many tens of millions of kilos of steel products more sustainable. ‘The nuts and bolts we galvanise and the gratings we produce are everywhere - from data centres, multi-storey car parks, railway tracks and lorries to wind turbines at sea. Without those parts, construction and infrastructure would grind to a halt.’

Galvanising sustainably demands top-level technology, secure processes and a lot of energy. ‘Every day, clients deliver lorries full of fasteners - such as rings, clamps and nuts - that are subsequently automatically transported on the new line through a series of chemical pre-treatment baths to remove such contaminants as oil and mill scale.’

‘This process is fully automatic and traceable; each product has its own regular recipe. That way, we know exactly what the composition and soaking time was for each process bath, for example.’

Thielco does the actual galvanising “thermally”, at a high temperature. ‘The cleaned products then go into a bath of liquid zinc that we keep at a constant 560 degrees Celsius.'

'After being submerged, we shake off the excess zinc to create an even layer of protection, cool the products down again and supply them back in the same client packaging. All this with hardly any human intervention.’

Thermal galvanising is an energy-intensive process, due to those high temperatures. Although this is traditionally fuelled by gas, Heldens is now focusing on electricity. Not only that, but with the new galvanising line, she also aimed to make it the most innovative in the world.

‘Per unit, electricity is more expensive than gas, but it is also more efficient and future-proof. In addition, we wanted a process that reaches the highest standard in every area: minimum energy consumption, maximum precision and automation and a better work environment.’

‘As a European manufacturer, we have to stay competitive with regard to low-cost countries,’ she tells us. ‘We can only do that if we produce hyper-efficiently and at the same time invest in sustainability. That is why we definitely wanted to make these investments.’

In the autumn of 2024, the scheduled starting date of construction of the new electric galvanising line approached. Heldens: ‘I thought: we are going to be investing a lot of money in electrification, innovation and sustainability. Surely it must be possible to get some subsidy for that.’

In September, with that in mind, she brought in her ABN AMRO advisor, Hans Jansen. He soon had good news: Juliëtte could apply to the RVO (the Netherlands Enterprise Agency) for the Accelerated climate investments industry subsidy (VEKI, in Dutch).

Together, they diligently worked to submit the application. ‘You have to underpin everything clearly and well: current and future energy consumption, savings in cubic metres of gas, euros and CO2, process designs...’

‘The experts at ABN AMRO were a huge help with all that. Not only with getting it into a water-tight narrative, but also with structuring the application to optimize our investment within the subsidy scope.’

The good news arrived in April 2025: the subsidy application had been approved. Heldens found the process of working through a subsidy application both instructive and profitable.

‘As a family business, we look at more factors than just the numbers when we invest. This application helped us streamline our plans,’ she says. ‘What can we speed up? Thanks to that realisation, we now include residual heat in our building heating and are further expanding our generation of solar energy.’

The new production line is expected to save 60% of energy consumption per kilo of product from January 2026, or put differently, more than 20,000 tonnes of CO2 in the coming 15 years, and 20% less zinc used.

‘We are achieving the maximum heating efficiency attainable - 99% -from the electric heating of the zinc bath and we use heat from the cooling water to heat the building.’

The process will later work fully automated, with only two operators per shift, making it also a solution for the tightness of the labour market. ‘The new production line requires less physical effort and more data-driven management. That is a good match for how we want to deploy our people.’

There is a strategic advantage too. ‘We are growing in volume, but also especially in process security. Clients want both efficiency and environmental achievements and that is what we offer.’

The support of ABN AMRO did not only help Thielco get the subsidy; it also paved the way for an acceleration of further sustainability later. She’ll be using the money for such items as solar panels for the company’s own energy supply. ‘That way we stay ahead and demonstrates that Thielco is innovative and sustainable.'

Heldens is more than happy to share with other entrepreneurs the lessons she learned in this process. ‘If you are going to invest in innovation, check which potential subsidies are available. Your plans should not depend entirely on it, but subsidy can speed them up.’

‘We did not know that this subsidy existed, so it was an unexpected benefit for us. And if you're planning to submit such a request, make sure your data is well-organized, as the application process requires thorough analysis and is quite extensive. It takes a bit of effort, but it really moves your business forward.’

ABN AMRO has decided to discontinue offering new applications for Subsidy Expertise. This service will be gradually phased out over the coming period.