WHIN Project
FerroPem, a FerroGlobe subsidiary, produces silicon metal through a high-temperature process (> 2,500 °C) of carbothermal reduction of quartz in arc metallurgical furnaces, in five plants located in France. FerroPem benefits from the highly electro-intensive industry status, and consumes 2.8 TWh of electricity per year.
About 50% of power is directly used by the process; the remaining 50% is lost as unavoidable heat in the flue gases.
It is therefore very important, economically speaking, for FerroGlobe to be able to develop a recovery solution for the unavoidable heat evacuated from the 24 electrometallurgical sites it operates.
Almost all FerroGlobe plants are located away from major heat consumers, and heat self-consumption needs at sites are negligible.
FerroGlobe, represented by its subsidiary FerroPem, contacted Dalkia to assist them in the WHIN project.
WHIN (which stands for Waste Heat recovery in silicon INdustry) is an industrial demonstrator project for power generation resulting from waste heat, in the FerroPem site in Anglefort (French Alps region).
Anglefort is close to the main FerroGlobe R&D centre, located in Chambéry (France), and produces 40,000 tonnes/year of silicon metal.
The demonstrator’s objective is to allow FerroGlobe rolling out, faster and at lower cost, such a solution in its plants worldwide, where electricity costs are higher than in France.
Dalkia, a subsidiary of the EDF group, is the leading provider in energy services not only for industry, but also for buildings, as well as in district heating and cooling in France. Backed by its 15,500 employees, Dalkia puts at its clients disposal its expertise to help them to develop, implement and manage more innovative energy, environmentally-friendly and economical solutions. By means of its energy solutions, Dalkia produces 26.5 TWh / year of heat and cold, 3.0 TWh/year of electricity, and prevents 4.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.