Siam City Cement Plc to reduce energy costs
Siam City Cement Plc (SCCC) is looking to reduce its energy costs by having EcoSiam, its waste management unit, expand its waste-treatment facilities, according to EcoSiam general manager Ghassan Broummana, the Bangkok Post reports.
He said the second-phase expansion of waste-management facilities would process sludge for conversion to alternative fuels.
Engineering designs call for an annual capacity of around 50,000t, and the investment amount will be finalised next year.
The first phase, costing THB700m for integrated waste management, is now under construction, with a capacity of 100,000t of solid waste. It will be completed next year.
The goal is to increase output to help substitute for coal, which is becoming increasingly costly, in SCCC’s cement kilns by 10% by 2010, compared with about 5% currently.
SCCC has been increasing its use of alternative fuel since 1999 by taking hazardous wastes from industrial plants to burn in its cement kilns for conversion into fuels.
SCCC last week announced an early retirement programme to cut up to 180 jobs, and said it was shutting down two of its six kilns temporarily.
EcoSiam was created by SCCC major shareholder, Holcim of Switzerland. All Holcimcement plants worldwide are pursuing similar programmes.
The waste treatment and processing project would not only help the company reduce its costs, it is also expected to generate impressive revenue.
EcoSiam’s co-processing waste treatment plant now produces 80,000t of alternative fuels a year.
’’A drop of four to five percent in coal consumed is very important for our cost reduction programme,’’ said Marcel Smit, managing director of SCCC.
Even though the closure of two kilns will reduce output to 10.25Mt from 12.5Mt this year, the output is still modest for local markets.
On November 20, EcoSiam signed an agreement with Wongpanit Garbage Recycling Separation Plant, Thailand’s largest plant of its kind, to supply EcoSiam with semi-processed wastes.
Published under Cement News
