PROJECT OF CONSTRUCTION OF UREA PLANT 3 HAS PASSED REPEATED PUBLIC HEARING SUCCESSFULLY

Project of construction of Urea Plant 3 at the production site of TOAZ, the largest urea manufacturer in Russia, has passed public hearing regarding environmental impact of the facility. The hearing was required due to the changes in the design documentation.

Public hearing was held on November 29, 2019 and hosted 84 persons including representatives of the Municipal Service Department of Togliatti Municipal District Administration, the customer (TOAZ), and the General Contractor, (Casale S. A.), and well as the designer, NIIK OJSC. Representatives of public organizations and mass media, and concerned citizens were also present.

The project designed by an EPC contractor Casale S.A. (Switzerland) together with NIIK OJSC which is being implemented currently at the TOAZ site involves construction of an urea production plant with the capacity of 2,200 metric tons per day. Ammonia (produced by TOAZ) and carbon dioxide obtained in ammonia production process will be the feedstock. Thus, a new plant construction would increase production of a product with higher added value than that of ammonia, and total production efficiency, and reduce environmental impact.

The new urea plant construction project has been developed with account of industrial and environmental safety requirements. The technologies used, as well as a dust trapping device of prilling tower and cyclones in the transfer units would reduce urea emission level by almost 3,000 tons per year, and the total urea emission would not exceed 5 % of the total current emissions of TOAZ.

To comply with the Federal Law No. 219-FZ (as well as Resolution No. 262 of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 13.03.2019 and Decree No. 428 of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 13.03.2019), the urea plant will feature automatic metering devices of pollutant emissions.

Calculation and studies performed showed that emissions of the plant under construction would not have any significant effect on air. No deterioration in quality of the water discharged to Volga during the plant operation is predicted either. All wastewaters will be supplied to the TOAZ treatment plants, and further treatment would allow returning up to 1,080 m3 of water to the production process daily. Water consumption of the plant under development and wastewater volume would decrease, respectively.

For process safety, the project provides for automated control and monitoring systems (PCS) and a number of actions reducing accident probability, namely:

- automatic emergency shutdown system (ESD) and emergency protection devices;

- trays under equipment to prevent spills of liquids containing hazardous, explosive and flammable substances;

- automatic spraying systems for absorption,

- fire-fighting and fire alarm system;

- equipment and steam pipeline grounding;

- automatic gas analysis systems,

- ventilation systems with required air exchange rate, and emergency ventilation; and

- emergency announcement system.

Viktor Kazachkov, Director for Technical Policy of Togliattiazot Corporation CJSC: “This project would assert TOAZ leadership in the market of high added-value products, such as urea. Besides, the new facility meets all industrial and environmental safety requirements, so the residents of Togliatti have no grounds to worry. I believe they have demonstrated their trust in Togliattiazot by supporting this project again.”

By the results of the hearing, it is suggested that Casale S. A. and NIIK OJSC update the design documentation before 30.12.2019 to include the comments and suggestions obtained and submit it to the State Environmental Expert Review. In addition, written comments and suggestions will be admitted for 30 days after completion of the hearing (at the toaz.ru website and in a logbook located in the Togliattiazot Cultural Center at: Kommunisticheskaya Str. 12, Togliatti) and will be taken into account in preparation of the final design documentation version.

The project of construction of 2,200 Mton/day Urea Plant 3 at the TOAZ site is being implemented within a large-scale investment program of Togliattiazot. Project investments would exceed RUR 25 bn. It is financed from TOAZ’ internal and borrowed funds. March 2018, Togliattiazot signed a 9-year loan agreement worth of € 180 mn with the banking syndicate of Commerzbank AG (Zurich, Switzerland) and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (Stuttgart, Germany). The guarantor is the Swiss Export Credit Agency (SERV).

The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2021.

A copy of public hearing minutes us available by the following link.