BP Energy and European Vinyls Corporation (EVC) have signed an agreement to build a combined heat and power plant at EVC’s Hillhouse plant near Blackpool, UK. EVC is the largest producer of PVC in Western Europe. Group capacity is around 1.1 million t/a of PVC resin, which represents almost a fifth of total Western European capacity.
The BP Energy/EVC partnership, worth around $6.5 million plus additional revenue to BP from energy management services, has two elements. The first is the construction of a new boiler house comprising two gas fired boilers with a total steam capacity of 30 t/h, plus a water treatment plant.
The second element is a separate CHP unit that will generate 5 MW of electricity and supply hot exhaust gas to the drying stages of EVC’s production process, which manufactures PVC that is mainly used to make vinyl wall coverings and floorings. The drier is the largest of its type in the UK.
“This investment in CHP demonstrates EVC’s commitment to the E-PVC (emulsion PVC) business at the Hillhouse site – the only E-PVC plant in the UK,” commented David Rolph, EVC’s E-PVC business manager.
The environmental benefits of the new scheme include a reduction in CO2 emissions of 32 500 t/a. In addition, it has been estimated that when fully operational, the project will yield cost savings of as much as $0.5 million per year.