Energy
The production of vacuum salt and chlorine requires large quantities of energy. This is why we (jointly with partners, or fully owned) run gas fired cogeneration units, delivering steam to our salt plants (and other on site customers) and power to our chlorine electrolyses. Cogeneration (also called Combined Heat and Power - CHP) is the combined generation of heat and electricity. Cogeneration gives the best utilization of the available energy. Replacing separate generation of heat and electricity by cogeneration gives large energy savings and large reductions of the CO2-emissions (both up to 40%)!
To further improve the environmental footprint of our steam supply and diversify our primary fuel sources, we erected a wood chip boiler at our Mariager salt production site, All of the wood is sourced locally from sustainable forest maintenance. At our Dutch production sites Hengelo and Delfzijl we built pipelines, connecting us to local waste processing plants and we entered into long term contract for the delivery of steam generated by waste incineration. Wherever possible we will look for regional optimization across our site borders. Rotterdam is a good example for this, where a regional steam grid is connecting several consumers and suppliers one of which is a major waste incineration plant. For our own cogeneration plants we have studied possibilities to process biomass and are looking to opportunities to enter into arrangements for the supply of “green gas”, originating from organic sources.
When it comes to the use of electric power, our first aim is (as it is for steam) to reduce the consumption by increasing the energy efficiency of our processes. In addition, we are developing several initiatives to further improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of our power supply, e.g. by supplying all our Dutch production sites with power generated by our highly efficient and environmentally friendly gas fired CHPs. Where possible, we will also supply our other manufacturing units with our own power. In addition, we strive to include green power in our supply portfolio.