On Thursday, CIECH Soda Romania submitted the official documents for starting the procedures for obtaining the environmental permit necessary for the construction of a new cogeneration plant within its unit in Vâlcea County. The company is still working on the feasibility study for the plant, so that the best final decision can be made, the company statement said.
”The CIECH Group, the owner of CIECH Soda Romania, intends to obtain the partnership of an external partner in this project and to capitalize on the possibility of using a support mechanism provided by the European Union. The company has already obtained the first necessary administrative decision, the urban planning certificate, almost a month ago. At the same time, work is continuing on the feasibility study for the new plant. According to the plan, it should be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2020.”
The feasibility study will focus on both the operational aspects and the financial aspects of the investment. As previously announced by the CIECH Group, this investment excludes the possibility of incurring investment expenses that could affect the CIECH Group’s balance sheet. In addition, CIECH intends to partner with an external partner responsible for the construction and maintenance of a new steam source, as well as with the Romanian authorities, in order to obtain support through state aid programs and aid mechanisms of the European Union, for this type of project.
The CIECH Group operates its own plants in Germany and Poland, in high efficiency and in strict compliance with EU environmental regulations. Building its own steam source is one of the very few solutions the company has to be able to resume its activity in Romania, after, in September 2019, it was forced to enter long-term stand-by due to unsustainable commercial conditions imposed by the only local steam supplier.
“We continue to focus on all the necessary steps to resume the production of soda ash in Romania. Our long experience in soda production in Vâlcea, together with our unique position in supplying our customers and our solid knowledge regarding the operation of our own plants, allow us to have an optimistic perspective on our options. We would prefer to find a viable solution that involves our local supplier, but we need to ensure a solid economic result. Our goal is to obtain volumes of steam in the quantity and quality necessary for our industrial processes,” said Witold Urbanowski, General Manager of CIECH Soda Romania.
Starting in September 2019, the company waited for six months for a decision on the various possible solutions to ensure the supply of steam in a sustainable way, after presenting to all competent authorities at local and national level numerous reports, analyzes and addresses about this problem. CIECH Soda Romania supported all salary and maintenance costs related to this period. However, at the end of March, due to additional pressure from the pandemic, the company decided to adopt a voluntary redundancy program, which targeted 72% of the 600 employees and a collective redundancy procedure, which targeted 13% of employees.