Solvay, Veolia launch $256 million energy transition project to halve carbon emissions

Belgian specialty chemicals company Solvay SA and French utility solutions provider Veolia Environment S.A launched on Wednesday  an energy transition project in France worth US $256 million, scheduled to come on stream in 2024.

The project aims to stop the use of fossil fuels by replacing coal imported from abroad with refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced in France, primarily from the Grand Est region and neighbouring regions, the companies said in a statement.

The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent or 240,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, they said.

“The Dombasle-sur-Meurthe site will have a cogeneration unit that uses 350,000 ton of RDF per year, supplied by Veolia as of 2024,” the company said.

The project consists of replacing three coal-fired boilers with a boiler room equipped with two furnaces running on RDF, produced from waste that cannot be recycled, allowing to halve the carbon footprint of the industrial activity and stop importing 200,000 tons of coal annually.

The new facility will be built by Solvay and operated by Veolia, with a capacity of 181 megawatts (MW) thermal power and 17.5 MW electrical power. The project forms part of Solvay's sustainable development roadmap, Solvay One Planet, that aims at carbon neutrality by 2050.