FBR Summer 2023 - Flipbook - Page 8
Industry News
Solar farm to cut its
CO2 emissions in Belgium
O
n 5 May, INEOS Inovyn
announced investment in
HELIOS, a 90,000 panel
solar farm spanning 30
hectares, to provide renewable
electricity exclusively to its site at
Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Belgium.
Through an exclusive power
purchase agreement, the solar farm
will provide over 57,000 MWh of
renewable electricity every year to
the INEOS Inovyn site from 2024.
Equivalent to the size of 56 football
pitches it will be one of the biggest
solar farms in Belgium and ‘the biggest
ever’ to be built in the Wallonia region.
HELIOS is expected to produce
renewable electricity equivalent to the
annual consumption of around 16,000
households in Belgium.
Julien De Meersman, Energy
Manager of the INEOS Inovyn site in
Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, said: “HELIOS
will replace around 10% of our
electricity requirement at Jemeppe,
saving more than 14,000 tonnes of
CO2 every year”.
HELIOS is part of INEOS Inovyn’s
plan to reduce CO2 emissions across
all its activities by more than 30% by
2030, and achieve net zero by 2050.
The plan, which was announced in
2021, will enable INEOS Inovyn to
provide its customers with low carbon
products and contribute to a more
sustainable economy.
“Our roadmap to net zero goes
way beyond the use of renewable
energy,” said Philippe Taranti, Site
Director at INEOS Inovyn in Jemeppe.
“We are improving our processes,
electrifying our systems and replacing
old equipment with much more
energy-efficient alternatives. We are
also involved in CCS projects, which are
conducting research into permanent
CO2 storage.”
As Europe’s largest operator of
electrolysis, which is the technology
necessary for the production of green
hydrogen, INEOS Inovyn has also
announced ambitious plans to invest
more than €2 billion to produce green
hydrogen at INEOS sites in Norway,
Koln, Antwerp and the UK.
“In 2018, energy costs accounted
for around 20% of our production
costs, today, it represents 40%, which
puts energy savings at the top of our
priority list,” said Philippe Taranti.
INEOS Inovyn is a leader in the field
of chlorovinyls, a sector many industries
rely upon. “Our products are used in
construction and automotive sectors,
but also essential in the production
of wind turbines and healthcare. If
we want to keep this expertise and
industrial activity grounded in Europe
– and in Belgium in particular – it is
essential for us to keep energy costs in a
competitive range,” he added.
An underground cable will directly
connect the solar park to INEOS
Inovyn’s internal electricity grid in
Jemeppe. The site is self-sufficient
in terms of energy generation, but it
remains connected to the Belgian highvoltage network.
Philippe Taranti concluded, “In
recent years, we have become flexible
enough to serve the Belgian electricity
network to manage demand through
peak periods and provide flexibility to
the network operator”.
More information:
www.ineos.com
Renewable hydrogen project in Finland
In accordance with its ambition
to reach carbon neutral production
by 2035, Neste is working on a 120
MW electrolyser project to produce
renewable (ie green) hydrogen at
its Porvoo refinery in Finland. The
company has now decided to proceed
to the basic engineering phase with
the project. The decision for readiness
to invest is expected to be reached
in early 2024 and if an investment
decision is made, green hydrogen
production could start in 2026.
“Our project is one of the largest
development projects to produce
green hydrogen in the European
refineries and it supports our goal
to transform the Porvoo refinery
to the most sustainable refinery in
Europe by 2030. The green hydrogen
would be primarily used in our
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Forest Bioenergy Review Summer 2023
Porvoo refinery’s processes, where
it would replace hydrogen produced
from fossil feedstocks,” said Markku
Korvenranta, Executive VicePresident in Neste’s Oil Products.
Production of green hydrogen
also generates renewable heat.
In connection with the 120 MW
green hydrogen project, Neste has
started a preliminary study with
Porvoon Energia on the utilisation of
renewable heat in district heating.
Porvoon Energia is a regional Finnish
energy company focusing on heat
and electricity production and
distribution, as well as development
of the electricity network.
Hydrogen projects at Neste’s
Porvoo refinery contribute
considerably to the EU green
hydrogen value chain. In July, 2022,
Neste became the first Finnish
company to receive Important
Project of Common European Interest
(IPCEI) status from the European
Commission for its hydrogen projects.
In December, 2022, Business Finland
awarded Neste EUR27.7 million of
public funding for its renewable
hydrogen projects at the Porvoo
refinery.
More information:
www.neste.com