The Netherlands-headed biomass combustion technology specialists HoSt Group has announced that it will build a 15MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant for the combustion of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for an undisclosed client in the European packaging and paper industry.
According to a statement, approximately 50 percent of the client’s natural gas consumption will be replaced with renewable heat from the new plant.
For the client, this RDF-fired heat and power plant is a major and important step towards energy independence and a return to pre-pandemic energy prices.
RDF is a great way for a company and the paper and packaging industry in general to increase independency on natural gas. And moreover, it reduces the CO2 footprint, lowers the energy bill, and saves on disposal costs of waste. We are very pleased to contribute with our technology to the client’s sustainable development and to enable the factory to diversify away from natural gas, commented Wouter Kok, Sales Manager Thermal Technology at HoSt Group.
The paper and packaging industry has a large potential to increase renewable energy production by recovering its own combustible waste instead of bringing the waste to a landfill or to another waste-to-energy (WtE) facility.
We have developed a highly promising RDF-fired heat and power project pipeline for the coming years. These are ranging from 10 to 20 MW boiler capacity and 1 to 6 MWe. We are determined and excited to expand our position as a competitive and experienced supplier in this segment, said Wouter Kok.
Project technology
The steam generated in the steam boiler will power a back-pressure steam turbine producing 1.7 MW of electricity.
The exhaust steam will be supplied to the factory. The client operates multiple factories and generates its own RDF fuel which is a combination of recycled paper rejects – a mixture of mainly paper and plastics – and paper sludge.
Additionally, RDF waste will be collected to supplement the own RDF fuel stream to fire the 15 MW cogeneration plant. The fuel will be first pretreated through shredding and the removal of ferrous and non-ferrous metals including aluminum.
Equipped with the best available flue gas cleaning technology, including DeNOx, and a bag house filter with an additive injection system, the industrial plant meets the most stringent European emission laws for waste-to-energy (WtE) plants.
Industrial-sized RDF- and waste-fired CHP plants
HoSt’s RDF-fired boiler CHP plants range from 10 to 20 MWth boiler capacity and from 1-6 MWe power. Fuels including RDF, solid recovered fuel (SRF), paper rejects, waste wood, paper sludge, or a combination of these, are well suited to be converted into renewable energy.
On account of high electricity prices and high gas prices, the installations have a very good return on investment and cost saving on the energy bill.
