RIYADH — The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has signed a cooperation agreement with Al Safwa Cement Company for the recycling of carbon ash and the use of oils and oil residues resulting from the burning of heavy fuel in power generation plants as an alternative source of energy instead of the previous method of landfilling. This would save millions of riyals for SEC and support its ongoing efforts in preserving the environment.
Eng. Khalid Bin Abdulrahman Al-Tuaimi, Executive Vice President for the Generation at the Saudi Electricity Company, said that the objective of the agreement is to dispense with carbon ash projects at generating stations, which will achieve financial surplus of up to 325 million riyals during the period of the agreement, which extends to seven years.
He stressed that SEC is the first company to adopt this environmental option, which is to cooperate with the cement company, after the approval of the recycling technology by the General Authority for Meteorology and Environmental Protection, especially as carbon ash contains high carbon ratio sometimes up to 85%, while the cement plants need this ash as auxiliary fuel with heavy fuel, which is used in furnaces of cement factories.
This would reduce the full dependence of the cement factory on heavy fuel, thereby reducing dependence on oil, which is a key element of the Kingdom Vision 2030 to restructure the national economy.
He added: «The most important goal that we are looking for from the process of recycling carbon ash and utilizing used oils and oil residues as an energy source is to implement SEC›s plans to apply accurate international standards in terms of environmental protection, social responsibility and maintaining safety and occupational health within its various efforts, which prioritize all the requirements in that field, especially as carbon ash consists of micro-granules able to penetrate the respiratory system and possibly settle on the lung walls or indulge in its tissues, which is a serious risk to the respiratory system of humans in the case of dealing with that in an unscientific way.»
«With the help of God, the agreement will be a new beginning to benefit from carbon ash, instead of worrying about its danger,» said Al-Tuaimi. «At the Saudi Electricity Company, we have four generating plants that produce large amounts of carbon ash equivalent to about 200,000 cubic meters a year. The Jeddah South plant produces about 45 thousand cubic meters, Al-Shuaibah plant produces 47 thousand cubic meters, the Rabigh plant produces 60 thousand cubic meters, and the Shuqaiq plant would produce 45,000 meters annually in the future.»
He pointed out that the company, in coordination with the international expert houses accredited by the General Authority for Meteorology and Environmental Protection, has carried out over the past years high-precision scientific projects to get rid of carbon ash safely, but the agreement that was signed today is the best option to get rid of its danger to the human and the environment as the company is striving to implement strict standards in this field, especially as it has succeeded through its initiatives and programs to save more than 24.8 million barrels of equivalent fuel and 13 million barrels of diesel in 2016, as a result of improved heat efficiency of the electrical system, including plans to convert simple cycle units into complex cycles in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
As part of its efforts to preserve the environment, the Saudi Electricity Company has signed early this year a partnership and cooperation agreement with the Petroleum, Chemicals & Mining Company (PCMC) of the Saudi Binladin Group to establish the Green Saudi Company for Carbon Services to develop and manage carbon reduction programs, projects of clean development mechanism and environmental pollution control, in accordance with international and regional protocols and treaties, and local regulations in this regard. — SG
