Neom’s Enowa partners with Belgium’s Solvay on carbon-neutral soda ash

Enowa + Solvay partner on carbon-neutral soda ash plant: Neom’s energy and water company Enowa is partnering with Belgian chemicals manufacturer Solvay to build the world’s first carbon-neutral soda ash production plant in Neom, according to a statement released last week. The plant is expected to begin operations by 2030 and no investment ticket has been disclosed.

About the project: The renewables-powered plant will convert seawater brine into soda ash and use the e.Solvay process for sustainable and carbon-neutral soda ash production. The plant is targeting a capacity of 500k tons of soda ash by 2030, which would gradually increase to 1.5 mn tons by 2035.

What’s the significance of soda ash: Soda ash is used to manufacture window panes, laundry detergents and rechargeable batteries. India's Tuticorin Alkali Chemical and Fertilizers (TFL) also successfully produced green soda ash and can capture carbon dioxide from the flue gasses of biomass boilers at its facilities and reuse it in the production, promoting a circular economy and resulting in a near-zero carbon.

And the region is lending a helping hand: Egypt exported 37.4 tons of green ammonia in October to TFL for soda ash production. TFL also received Fertiglobe's first renewable ammonia shipment in November to produce soda ash as well.