PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - How paper factory Vrancart cut its natural gas consumption by 50%. Markus Schranzer, Managing Director, HoSt Bioenergy Systems - Paper Technology International 2026 - Book - Page 118

PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - How paper factory Vrancart cut its natural gas consumption by 50%. Markus Schranzer, Managing Director, HoSt Bioenergy Systems

PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
Flue gas cleaning and emissions compliance
Meeting WID and IED emission standards for waste
incineration requires a multi-stage 昀氀ue gas cleaning
system. The Adjud plant is equipped with a
full suite of cleaning technology. Flue gases
leaving the combustion chamber pass through
a two-second retention zone at temperatures
above 850 degrees Celsius, ensuring
complete burnout of organic compounds
including dioxins and furans. From there, a
cyclone removes coarse particulates before
the gas enters the main bag house 昀椀lter,
where 昀椀ne particulate matter is captured. An
additive injection system introduces reagents
to neutralise acidic gases, and a DeNOx
system controls nitrogen oxide emissions.
Continuous emissions monitoring
systems (CEMS) provide real-time veri昀椀cation that the
plant operates within permitted limits at all times. The
installation was designed and permitted to meet the
most stringent EU requirements for waste-to-energy
plants, providing Vrancart with regulatory certainty for the
full operational life of the asset.
Image 7: Design of the CHP plant.
Project results: performance, savings, and business
Energy self-suf昀椀ciency, savings and business
Since commissioning in 2024, the plant has performed
in line with design speci昀椀cations, delivering 15 MWth of thermal
energy and 1.7 MWe of electricity on a continuous basis. The
practical outcome for Vrancart is that approximately 50 percent
of the factory’s natural gas consumption has been replaced by
renewable heat generated on-site from its own waste streams. This
is a structural shift in the energy pro昀椀le of the business, achieved
through capital investment rather than market exposure.
The back-pressure steam turbine supplies electricity directly
to the factory, partially offsetting grid electricity consumption. While
the primary value driver in this project is thermal (steam replaces
gas), the concurrent electricity generation adds a further layer of
energy cost reduction and supports the overall economics of the
investment.
Financial return and payback period
The 昀椀nancial case for the Adjud plant rests on two parallel
revenue streams: avoided energy costs and
avoided waste disposal costs. Before the plant
came online, Vrancart was purchasing natural gas
to produce the process steam its paper production
required, and paying for the disposal of the RDF
streams it generated. The plant converts both of
these cost lines into assets.
At the energy price levels that prevailed
during and after the 2022 European energy crisis,
the return on investment for RDF-昀椀red CHP
installations of this type is compelling. HoSt cites
a typical payback period of two to four years for
installations in this category, depending on fuel
availability, energy price assumptions, and the
scale of the pre-existing waste disposal cost. For
Vrancart, the combination of high in-house RDF
availability, proximity to external RDF supply, and
the sustained elevation of European gas prices
created a 昀椀nancial pro昀椀le at the favourable end of
that range.
Figure 1: Project details.
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