Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE) has announced a £30 million investment designed to future-proof its Lostock soda ash manufacturing site in Cheshire.
It is set to benefit from an agreement for Lostock Sustainable Energy to construct, own and operate an energy from waste (EFW) plant on its former site in Northwich; this deal includes a 25-year contract for TCE to supply its Briskarb sodium bicarbonate to the EFW plant (to be used for flue gas treatment).
The new site will have a ‘state of the art’ plant that will supply treated water to TCE’s soda ash process.
The development will also see new high-voltage electrical sub-stations, pipe bridges and raw-material storage facilities created, along with a new central office complex, workshops and plant maintenance facilities (
www.tatachemicalseurope.com).
Martin Ashcroft, TCE’s managing director, said: “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 in the production of sodium bicarbonate, demand for which is growing globally every year.”