International. Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp and the companies Eneco and Groningen Seaports opened a facility that will supply biomass steam to the Delfzijl chemical park in the Netherlands, mainly for the headquarters of AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals.
Eneco has converted its biomass plant into a combined heat and power plant, which supplies electricity and steam from renewable biomass. The steam is transported through a pipeline built by Groningen Seaports.
The conversion has increased the efficiency of the largest biomass plant in the Netherlands; the same amount of biomass now produces twice as much renewable energy. The transition from fossil fuels to sustainably produced steam means that an additional 10% of AkzoNobel's energy consumption in the Netherlands now comes from renewable sources, resulting in a reduction of 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
About 10% of the total Dutch chemical production comes from Delfzijl, and the industry is a major employer in the region. The project is further enhancing the long-term competitiveness of the group of chemical companies at headquarters. The three parties have jointly invested about 40 million euros in the project.
