Solvay, Veolia form JV for green energy at Dombasle, France soda ash plant, aim to halve CO2 emissions

LONDON (ICIS)–Solvay and Veolia have set up a joint venture (JV) aiming to replace coal with refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to produce clean energy for its soda ash plant at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, France.

The RDF cogeneration unit installed at the joint venture Dombasle Energie would allow to halve carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a cut of 240,000 tonnes/year, at the Dombasle site, the European chemicals soda ash major and the French water and waste management firm said on Wednesday.

RDF is a fuel produced from various types of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste, or commercial waste.

The Dombasle-sur-Meurthe plant, located in France’s Meurthe et Moselle department, has a 700,000 tonnes/year nameplate capacity and uses ammonia as feedstock, and is Solvay’s second-largest production site in Europe.

Capital expenditure (capex) will stand at €225m and is scheduled to come on stream in 2024.

The project consists of replacing three coal-fired boilers with a boiler room equipped with two furnaces running on RDF, made up of waste that cannot be recycled, to halve the carbon footprint of the industrial activity.

It would also allow to stop importing 200,000 tonnes/year of coal.

The Dombasle-sur-Meurthe site will have a cogeneration unit that recovers 350,000 tonnes/year of waste supplied by Veolia as of 2024.

The new facility, to be built by Solvay and operated by Veolia, will have a capacity of 181 megawatts (MW) thermal power and 17.5 MW electrical power, which will be reused for the industrial process.

IMPROVED CARBON FOOTPRINT 
Philippe Kehren, president for Solvay’s soda ash and derivatives division, said to ICIS the project would ensure the plant’s competitiveness.

“The RDF model offers price stability decorrelated from the fluctuation of fossil fuel prices, which is currently very high. Price stability allows Dombasle Energie to supply steam and electricity to Solvay, while ensuring the price of energy over the long term,” said Kehren.

“Its competitiveness will also be strengthened by avoiding future increasing CO2 costs. Our ambition is to be carbon neutral by 2050,” he added.

Kehren went on to say that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the EU’s Green Deal targets, Solvay is not “replicating models [but] looking at each plant individually” to assess what projects would enhance “sustainability and profitability”.

Solvay has already started up other initiatives to improve its carbon footprint at its soda ash plants. In Germany, the company has upgraded a gas-fired cogeneration unit at its Bernburg site, and in Rheinberg it started up a biomass boiler in 2021, and a second will start up in 2024.

In Italy’s Rosignano site, Solvay has invested in a cogeneration plant that has “drastically” reduced emissions, said Kehren.

“Other plans – using RDF or not – are therefore being studied in the US and in Rosignano, as well as at all our sites,” he added.

Soda ash is used in the manufacturing of glass, detergents, chemicals and other industrial products.

Clarification: Re-casts paragraph 12