Crimean Soda Plant is Ukraine's leading soda producer, which meets over 80 percent of domestic soda demand, and has 2.5 percent of the world market. OJSC Crimean soda plant (Krasnoperekopsk, Crimea) plans to upgrade some facilities and build a steam power unit with the capacity of 32 MW, reads a press release of OstChem Group, which controls the plant.

Thanks to more efficient use of heat produced during natural gas burning and steam reduction, the unit will generate enough electricity to cover up to 90% of the plant's need.

It is expected that this will result in a cut in the production cost of caustic ash by 7-10%.

A contract for designing a technical solution and a project on the construction of the new power unit have been signed with Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (Germany).

The press release says that the necessity to upgrade the energy system at the plant is linked to the low efficiency of its operation (the efficiency coefficient of its old steam boilers is up to 75%) and technical losses of steam quality during its transportation to remote workshops.

Germany's OstChem Germany GmbH, the daughter company of OstChem Holding AG, owns an 89.99% stake in the company. OstChem Holding AG belongs to Group DF, which unites assets of the co-owner of Swiss RosUkrEnergo, Dmytro Firtash.