TCE announce £30M investment in Lostock soda ash plant
In a boost to the Northern Powerhouse and UK manufacturing, and as part of its ongoing commitment to serve its customers in the long term, Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE) has announced a £30M future-proofing investment at its Lostock soda ash manufacturing site in Northwich, Cheshire.
TCE has been the principal soda ash supply partner to customers in the glass, chemicals and detergent sectors for well over 100 years. This investment, which is in addition to the ongoing £7M pa sustenance capital spend, will help to ensure this remains the case for decades to come. As announced in March 2019, TCE is set to benefit from an agreement for Lostock Sustainable Energy Limited to construct, own and operate the £480M Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (EfW plant) on the Lostock site. The deal also includes a 25 year contract for TCE to supply to the EfW plant of its Briskarb® sodium bicarbonate, manufactured at the Lostock site, used for flue gas treatment.
This latest announcement builds on this and will see substantial additional improvements in TCE’s soda ash manufacturing facilities in the form of new plant and upgrades, including:
• A new state of the art 2500m3 per day water treatment plant that will supply treated water to the soda ash process.
• The installation of new, high voltage electrical substations.
• New pipe bridges and raw material storage arrangements.
• New roads, lighting and gate house facilities.
• A new central office complex, workshops and plant maintenance facilities that will result in a significant upgrade and improvement in engineering effectiveness.
The multimillion improvements at the Lostock site underscore the importance of soda ash production within Tata Chemicals Europe, as a key pillar of the robust TCE ecosystem, as TCE Managing Director Martin Ashcroft observed:
“As well as providing both light ash and heavy ash to our customers for use in a range of applications, the Lostock soda ash plant is pivotal to the other arms of our business. It provides the raw material for sodium bicarbonate production at both our Winnington and Lostock locations. Around 22% of the light soda ash produced at Lostock is used for sodium bicarbonate production, demand for which is growing globally every year. The Lostock plant also ensures a consistent high quality soda ash supply for brine purification at our British Salt business in Middlewich, the biggest salt business in the UK”.
The inter-relation between TCE’s various areas of activity also includes TCE’s energy plant providing low carbon electricity and steam for soda ash and sodium bicarbonate production. TCE has a highly-efficient, dedicated, natural gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant to provide all the heat and electrical power required to carry out these operations. As a result, customers can take comfort in the knowledge that the soda ash supplied by TCE has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry.
Martin added:
“This TCE eco system is a significant strength that will underpin business growth and success long into the future. I am delighted to be able to announce these very significant investments in the future of our business that I hope demonstrate Tata Chemicals, the shareholder’s, unstinting backing for TCE’s UK operations”.
Work has already commenced on the Lostock soda ash plant upgrade and is due to be completed within 18 months.