New Biomass Boiler Plant to Halve Gas Consumption of Stellantis Slovakia

Trnava, 27 September (TASR) - A new biomass boiler plant, ceremonially opened by Stellantis Slovakia and ENGIE Services earlier this week, will help reduce natural gas consumption at the Trnava-based automotive plant by some 50 percent. In addition to the biomass boiler plant with a capacity of 9 megawatts (MW), the project also includes new heating network connected to the plant's key production technologies. The total investment amounted to €17.5 million. "By opening the new biomass boiler plant, we are taking another concrete step towards reducing the environmental impact of our production. This project is also part of our commitment to achieving 56 percent energy self-sufficiency by 2027," said Stellantis Slovakia director Monika Poussard. Other projects aimed at meeting this commitment include a photovoltaic power plant and a battery energy storage system, added Lubomir Kollar, who is in charge of investment at the Trnava carmaker. The new boiler plant consists of two boilers. "We've installed a total capacity of 9 MW, which is roughly equivalent to supplying heat to a medium-sized district town. As part of the investment, some 4 kilometres of process distribution networks also had to be installed across the plant site - work we carried out while operations and production were in full swing," ENGIE Services general director Roman Doupovec has told TASR. The company provided comprehensive energy services, including the design of the solution, financing and construction of the energy source. It will operate the entire heating infrastructure for the next 15 years. In addition to an estimated annual saving of some 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the investment also enhances the energy security, stability and resilience of the Trnava plant. "It's about diversifying the fuel mix. With the biomass boiler plant now in operation, the plant's dependence on gas supplies has been dramatically reduced," said Doupovec, noting that ENGIE currently operates nine biomass heat sources in Slovakia. ko/mcs