Energy Recovery Systems Company Ltd. (ERS), a Saudi Arabian company pioneering in innovative waste recovery, is delighted that on Monday the Antwerp port authorities gave the go-ahead for exclusive concession negotiations on 150 ha of land at Delwaide dock, the Port Authority's press release said.
The land will be used by ERS for the construction of a new production unit for green ammonia and green urea (chemical fertiliser) with an investment value of 3.7 billion euros. This factory will offer work for 900 people.
ERS was founded in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and is operating in waste treatment and recovery and in the development of so-called Waste to Chemicals projects. The factory that ERS wants to build in Antwerp is for the latter type of activity.
Here non-recyclable industrial waste arrives by ship, with gasification used to convert the materials to synthetic gas and ultimately two important chemical products: ammonia and urea. Ammonia is a raw material used in the chemical industry and is much demanded by the Antwerp chemicals cluster. Urea is a sustainable fertiliser with worldwide demand on the increase.
The Waste to Chemicals world's first represents a giant step in the circular economy: besides the traditional forms of waste reduction (reduce), waste reuse (reuse, recycle) and energy generation (Waste to Energy), Waste to Chemicals goes one step further. Non-recyclable industrial waste becomes a raw material for high quality, ready to trade finished chemical products. As distinct from their equivalents produced on the basis of fossil raw material, the ammonia and urea are ‘green’ and sustainable.
Waste to Syngas, the predecessor to Waste to Chemicals, was developed on the basis of the Thermoselect technology in Germany and Italy and has already found a variety of successful applications in Japan.
The concession for the 150 ha of land at the Delwaide dock in Antwerp would be the ideal location for the construction of the ERS factory. Located in the middle of a chemicals cluster, easy accessibility for ships along with a good rail and road infrastructure, a wide network of pipelines for distribution, a highly trained workforce, high quality contractors, … these were all reasons for choosing Antwerp.
Once up to full capacity, ERS will each year process 3.5 million tons of waste materials to obtain 1.2 million tons of green urea (chemical fertilizer) and 645,000 tons of green ammonia. This will result in port traffic increasing by at least four incoming ships a day for raw material and 35 outgoing ships per year for the transport of finished green urea. The green ammonia is to be transported by pipeline to other companies in the Antwerp chemicals cluster.
After the awarding of the concession, three years will be required for the concrete development of the project on the site and for the acquisition of the necessary permits. Then construction of the installation can start, that is expected to be operational by 2020. The construction phase will also involve employment for 1,500 people. The factory itself will take on 900 people.
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