Puławy, September 2nd 2009

Press Release

Another Investment Project at "Puławy" Set in Train

Construction of the water demineralisation unit is one of the energy saving, pro-environmental replacement projects currently implemented at Zakłady Azotowe Puławy S.A. On September 2nd 2009, the foundation stone ceremony was held marking the beginning of the construction of the new unit. Its cost is expected to amount to nearly PLN 42m.

The investment project, which received financial support of more than PLN 8m from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2011. The new water demineralisation unit will allow the Company to reduce the amount of water used for the Company’s own needs and consequently to reduce the wastewater discharge (to date, the amount of raw water used for the production of 1 cubic meter of demineralised water has been 1.4 cubic meters; this will be reduced to 1.05 cubic meters). Further benefits include reduction of electricity consumption by 30–50% and reduction of the amount, or even total elimination, of chemicals used in the process. The unit will be fully automated.
Demineralised water is high purity water from the chemical point of view. ZA Puławy produces such water mainly (in 70%) for the needs of its CHP plant. The remaining water is supplied to the Caprolactam and Melamine Plants, and is used in the production of AdBlue and hydrogen peroxide. ZA Puławy’s annual production of demineralised water reaches 5–6 million cubic meters.

The contractors in the water demineralisation unit project is a consortium comprised of Przedsiębiorstwo Remontu i Montażu Urządzeń Energetycznych ENERGOSERWIS S.A. of Lublin and MEGAT Sp. z o.o. of Łódź, and Przedsiębiorstwo Remontowo Budowlane TERMOCHEM Sp. z o.o. of Puławy is a subcontractor.

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In the last financial year, four of the Company’s investment projects received financial support of more than PLN 40m in total as part of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment for 2007–2013.
The largest amount (PLN 20m) of EU co-financing was allocated to the most expensive investment project – construction of a flue gas desulphurisation unit, whose budget amounts to PLN 200m. The support received from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management for the upgrade of the water demineralisation unit amounted to more than PLN 8m (total project cost: nearly PLN 42m), for modernisation of one of the boilers at a CHP plant to ensure that it meets the applicable emissions standards – nearly PLN 9m (total project cost: nearly PLN 30m), and for absorber replacement in the system for removal of carbon dioxide from gas – more than PLN 3m (total project cost: more than PLN 15m).