Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE) has announced a £30M future-proofing investment at its Lostock soda ash manufacturing site in Northwich, Cheshire, UK.
As announced in March 2019, TCE is set to benefit from an agreement for Lostock Sustainable Energy to construct, own and operate its £480M 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.
The new site will have a state-of-the-art 2500m3 per day water treatment plant that will supply treated water to the soda ash process.
The development will also see high voltage electrical substations, new pipe bridges and raw material storage arrangements and new roads, lighting and gatehouse facilities created.
A new central office complex, workshops and plant maintenance facilities will result in a significant upgrade and improvement in engineering effectiveness.
Martin Ashcroft, Managing Director of TCE 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 for sodium bicarbonate production, demand for which is growing globally every year.”
Work has already commenced on the plant upgrade and is due to be completed within 18 months.
