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Displaying items by tag: Waste Heat Recovery
NovaAlgoma to launch new cement carrier
11 July 2024Italy: NovaAlgoma, a joint venture between the Italian-Swiss Nova Marine Carriers and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, has announced the construction of the ‘world’s largest and greenest’ cement carrier, weighing 38,000t. This vessel will be built by Xinle Shipbuilding in China and delivered by the end of 2026. It will reportedly be the first to use both traditional fuel and methanol and can connect to electrical grids in ports to eliminate emissions, according to local news reports. Additionally, it will feature a waste heat recovery system that converts exhaust gases into 250kW of electrical energy.
Vincenzo Romeo, CEO of Nova Marine, said "This new construction, which meets the forecasts for the development of our fleet and the growth of cement market demand in the coming years, is intended to consolidate our positioning among the global leaders in cement transportation.”
Adani Group speeds up its expansion plans in India
19 June 2024Adani Group’s subsidiary Ambuja Cements signed a deal this week to buy Penna Cement for US$1.25bn. The agreement adds 14Mt/yr of cement production capacity to the group with a focus in the south of India. The acquisition is a big step towards the group’s target of reaching a capacity of 140Mt/yr by 2028. Ajay Kapur, the head of Ambuja Cements, also singled out the advantage the company hopes to gain from taking control of Penna Cement’s terminals saying that they would “prove to be a gamechanger by giving access to the eastern and southern parts of peninsular India.” The move is expected to increase the group’s market share in India by 2%, and by 8% in South India.
Penna Cement operates four integrated plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a capacity of 7Mt/yr. Two of these units also include waste heat recovery installations and one has a captive power plant. It runs two grinding plants in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra with a capacity of 3Mt/yr. Another integrated plant is being built at Jodhpur in Rajasthan and a grinding plant at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Finally, the company owns four bulk cement terminals at Kolkata, Gopalpur, Karaikal and Kochi in India, one at Colombo in Sri Lanka and it also owns a 25,000t cement carrier.
Adani Group’s march towards that target of 140Mt/yr by 2028 started off in mid-2022 when it purchased Ambuja Cements and ACC from Holcim. This gave it a starting capacity of 68Mt/yr in the cement sector. Various smaller additions followed including new plants at Ametha and Dahej and the acquisitions of Asian Cement and Concrete, MyHome Industries and Sanghi Industries. The latter company was the biggest of these purchases. Once the in-progress projects from Penna Cement are built, Adani Group should have a capacity of 93Mt/yr. Another 20Mt/yr is reportedly at various stages of execution. The remaining 27Mt/yr is described as being ‘blueprint ready.’
Generally, the local financial press has been in favour of the transaction agreeing with the geographic advantages of Adani Group increasing its presence in the southern states. The benefits of the high number of railway sidings at Penna Cement’s plants were also commented upon as a means for Ambuja Cements to reduce its costs per tonne of cement. The logistics benefit from the port terminals is also expected by Adani Group’s chief financial officer to reduce the group’s logistics costs with an impact expected within the next year. However, it has been reported that Penna Cement’s operating performance had been weaker in the last financial year due to low sales volumes, poor operational efficiency and high coal costs. A takeover by Adani Group could certainly fix the latter two issues. Yet, it has also been reported that competition in the cement markets in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is up, due to a mismatch between supply and demand. So, improving Penna Cement’s capacity utilisation in these regions might be harder to solve than simply being absorbed into Adani Group.
India’s two largest cement producers both have plans in motion to mount up production capacity by the end of the decade in what has been dubbed ‘the battle of the billionaires.’ The market leader is UltraTech Cement and it has shown reluctance to cede ground to the cement newcomer Adani Group. The former company’s current target is to make it to just under 190Mt/yr by 2027. It said it had a capacity of 152Mt/yr in May 2024. It is ahead of Adani Group by this measure but there is still plenty of scope for surprises. Given the rivalry between the companies there is a regular stream of speculation about which of the smaller cement producers they might be about to buy at any given time. For example, in October 2023 HeidelbergCement India was rumoured to be courting offers from UltraTech Cement, Adani Group and JSW Cement. Last week, Adani Group was reportedly interested in buying either Saurashtra Cement, the cement business of Jaiprakash Associates, Vadraj Cement or… Penna Cement. Occasionally the rumours are true after all. UltraTech Cement remains in first place for now but the situation may change.
Rohrdorf cement plant installs rooftop solar panels
19 June 2024Germany: Rohrdorfer has started operation of a new photovoltaic (PV) unit at its Rohrdorf cement plant near Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria. The rooftop PV installation comprises 1000 modules, covers around 2000m2 and has a peak output of 400kW. The construction time of the solar panels took five weeks. Modules supplied by Hecker Solar were installed by Elektro Ecker.
The cement plant has produced around one third of its electricity requirements via a waste heat recovery unit since 2011. Rohrdorf Group aims to generate 30% of its electricity from renewable sources as a whole by 2033.
India: Adani Cement is upgrading its facility in Himachal Pradesh by installing a new 7800t/day double-stage cooler grate. This upgrade aims to increase efficiency, lower power consumption and clinker temperature and enhance waste heat recovery system performance, according to the company. The project involves replacing the first and second grates of the existing IKN pendulum cooler.
Holcim breaks ground on Go4Zero at Obourg
17 May 2024Belgium: Holcim kicked-off its Go4Zero project at its Obourg plant on 16 May 2024 in an event attended by the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra. The €500m Go4Zero project, supported with €230m of funding from the European Union, will enable the integrated plant to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2027 and to produce 2Mt/yr of CO2-free cement by 2029. When fully operational, the Obourg plant will capture 1.2Mt/yr of CO2.
The Go4Zero project incorporates a number of approaches to achieve net-zero CO2 cement. The centrepiece is an oxy-fuel combustion process to generate an easy-to-handle exhaust gas with up to 80% CO2. This will be coupled to a cryogenic purification unit to generate a >99%-pure CO2 stream .The project will also make use of waste heat recovery (WHR), new exhaust filtration equipment and Europe’s largest floating solar panel farm.
India: Orient Cement has successfully commissioned Phase 2 of the new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at its Chittapur cement plant in Karnataka. Reuters has reported that the new phase raises WHR power capacity at the plant to 10.1MW.
Cemex and Orcan Energy extend waste heat recovery partnership
15 February 2024Mexico/Germany: Cemex and waste heat recovery (WHR) systems developer Orcan Energy plan to scale up WHR technologies supplied by Orcan Energy at multiple Cemex sites globally. This new multi-site portfolio approach extends an existing partnership, through which the companies trialled Orcan’s systems for electricity generation at Cemex Deutschland’s Rüdersdorf cement plant in Germany.
Cemex’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menéndez said “We already have an initial collaboration with Orcan. Based on the modularity of their solution, Orcan offers the flexibility of both installation and contracts. Thanks to this crucial flexibility, we can adapt to any upcoming changes in our plants. The approach enables us to reduce carbon emissions right now without limiting ourselves in implementing any future technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage. This partnership will help us achieve our sustainability targets and contribute to our aim to use all available heat.”
Orcan Energy’s chief executive officer Andreas Sichert said “We are looking forward to entering this large-scale decarbonisation partnership with Cemex after our initial cooperation in Germany. This step is a testament to Cemex’s forward-looking strategy and the company’s commitment to achieving net zero. For Orcan Energy, this is another milestone in scaling the business internationally with global enterprises. We are proud to be the partner of choice for the cement industry. Our large footprint across the industry shows the economic capability and the technical excellence of our modular and flexible solution, especially in view of uncertain future economic and regulative developments.”
The Ramco Cements to expand Kalavatala cement plant
09 February 2024India: The Ramco Cements plans to more than double the clinker capacity of its Kalavatala cement plant in Andhra Pradesh to 6.3Mt/yr at a cost of US$151m. The new Line 2 will be equipped with a 15MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit. The line will raise the producer’s installed cement capacity to 26Mt/yr and its clinker capacity to 19Mt/yr with commissioned scheduled by early 2026. The Ramco Cements plans to source the funds through internal accruals and bank borrowings.
At the same time, the company will invest US$18.4m in the construction of a 10MW WHR plant at its Ramasamy Raja Nagar cement plant in Tamil Nadu, scheduled for commissioning by March 2025. Both WHR projects will raise The Ramco Cements’ total WHR capacity by 58% to 68MW.
The Ramco Cements said that Kalavatala plant is currently operating at full capacity utilisation. It added that it decided to expand the plant in response to this and further ‘demand potential.’ In the current, fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year (1 January – 31 March 2024), the company expects to make capital expenditure (capex) investments of US$47m, followed by US$205m in the upcoming 2025 financial year.
Germany: Orcan Energy has expanded its Kiel plant in order to produce its waste heat recovery (WHR) systems entirely on-site. The expansion aims to meet increased global demand, in line with Orcan Energy's strategy to help reduce CO2 emissions from cement and other industries.
Orcan Energy CEO Andreas Sichert said "The decision to expand our in-house production capacity in Kiel reflects our commitment to growth and innovation in Germany. With roots in Munich and a range of global projects, we can promote sustainable change around the world from Germany. I look forward to working together with my colleagues in Kiel to contribute to a profitable and sustainable energy future."
Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has informed investors via a posting on the Saudi Exchange that it expects its cost of sales to rise by 13%. This is due to an increase in the price of fuels by its supplier Saudi Aramco. The cement producer noted that the waste heat recovery (WHR) system installed at its Najran cement plant has partly reduced the anticipated impacts on costs.
Najran Cement said “The company will work during the coming period to explore ways to reduce the financial impact of this adjustment on the company’s profits and will continue to implement its plans to reduce costs and improve production and operating efficiency. It will also work with government agencies to explore ways to diversify energy sources.”