The Egyptian subsidiary of the Lafarge Holcim group wants to reduce its production costs in Egypt. And solar energy will be its main ally. Lafarge Egypt has just signed an agreement with Lumika Renewables, a joint venture between the South African industrial group Reunert and the investment company A.P. Møller Capital. Lumika has committed to invest $93 million over the next few years to supply clean energy to Lafarge’s Ain Soukhna cement plant in the Suez governorate.
This is one of the largest cement plants in North Africa, with a production capacity of 10.2 million tonnes per year, thanks to its 2,000 employees. And in proportion to its size, the site consumes a lot of electricity. No less than 750 GWh per year. The agreement signed with Lumika aims to provide 140 GWh of clean electricity per year.
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To achieve this, Lumika plans to build a 50 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant. The electricity produced will be sold to Lafarge Egypt. The company has less than two years to set up the installations since the contract with the cement manufacturer is due to come into force in 2024. With this partnership, Lafarge wants to increase the share of clean electricity to 50% during the day at the Ain Soukhna plant.
Lafarge also relies on the energy recovery of waste to power its plant. Through its subsidiary Geocycle, the Franco-Swiss group LafargeHolcim has acquired a plant capable of converting 400,000 tonnes (per year) of household, agricultural and industrial waste into biogas, fuel oil or diesel. The incineration of these fuels provides the heat and electricity needed to manufacture cement.
Jean Marie Takouleu