Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW; Espoo, Finland) has signed a contract with QEMETICA S.A. (Warsaw, Poland), an international industrial group, to carry out a project to convert a coal-fired boiler into a biomass-fired boiler. The contract was signed between a consortium consisting of SFW, QEMETICA and Mostostal Zabrze Realizacje Przemysłowe S.A. (MZRP; Gliwice, Poland). The modernization will reduce coal consumption by approximately 100,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) at QEMETICA’s soda plant in Inowrocław, Poland, and enable a reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 200,000 m.t./yr.
The contract is valued at a total of 299.99 million PLN (~$68 million EUR), with 99.9 million PLN (~$23 million EUR) in funding from the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW; Warsaw, Poland) secured by QEMETICA. Construction work will begin later this year, and the boiler is scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 2028.
The consortium will be responsible for the design, construction, and commissioning of the facility. The project involves converting the OP-110 coal-fired boiler operating at a combined heat and power plant into a boiler fueled 100% by biomass. Its primary fuel will be wood chips, with an annual consumption of approximately 240,000 metric tons. The modernized boiler is expected to produce up to 100 metric tons of steam per hour.
“Combining SFW’s expertise in decarbonization technologies with Mostostal Zabrze Group’s construction experience enables us to support QEMETICA in meeting its sustainability targets and reducing its environmental footprint. We are proud to contribute to this important project and to support QEMETICA on its journey toward a more sustainable future,” said Mats Ohls, Senior Vice President, Global Services at SFW.
“Through a competitive bidding process, we selected a consortium that combines experience in managing large-scale industrial projects with specialized expertise in energy technologies to carry out the project. Thanks to this investment, we will reduce coal consumption by 100,000 metric tons per year — that’s approximately 1,500 railcars full of coal that will not end up in our boiler each year,” said Kamil Majczak, CEO of the QEMETICA Group.
“We are pleased to begin the conversion project, a key element of the energy transition in Polish industry. We are also pleased to collaborate with SFW, which brings to the project proven technology based on experience from numerous projects around the world. We believe that combining our expertise will enable us to successfully complete this investment and lay a solid foundation for future joint ventures,” said Marcin Grzanka, President of the Management Board of MZRP S.A.
An integral part of the project is the construction of a complete infrastructure for receiving, storing, and transporting biomass. This will include building unloading stations for trucks and railcars, facilities for separating metals and oversized components, feeders, storage silos, and an overhead conveyor transporting fuel to the boiler.
“In the SFW execution team, we have gained QEMETICA’s trust and are happy to deliver the upgraded plant in cooperation with our local construction partner Mostostal Zabrze Realizacje Przemysłowe S.A. The successful implementation of a project is best supported by open communication and well-functioning cooperation between the parties, which has also been a leading practice in the development and sales phase and throughout the work to date,” said Arkadiusz Osuch, General Director of SFW’s Energia Polska unit in Poland.