‘With the help of KH Engineering, we have made significant progress over the past year in the recovery and reconstruction of our waste-to-energy plant’, says Hadeel Abdul Aziz, Manager Strategic Projects at AVR Rozenburg. The waste-to-energy plant was severely damaged by a major fire in September last year, halting both waste processing and energy delivery. ‘We are currently working hard on the recovery and reconstruction of our plant, with KH Engineering assisting us in this effort.’
The fire had a tremendous impact, particularly on the approximately five hundred AVR employees, who were deeply affected. ‘It took a few days for the fire brigade to declare the fire under control, after which the damage could be assessed and a recovery plan formulated. We used to process 1.3 million tonnes of waste per year’, Hadeel explains, ‘including industrial waste and waste from households in Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. Although we have continued to collect this waste over the past year, we were unable to process it. Therefore, the waste has been sent to temporary storage facilities or other processors.’
Emergency provisions and new construction
‘The reconstruction of the plant, under the name Project Phoenix, is proceeding as quickly as possible’, Hadeel explains. ‘We are doing this with temporary emergency provisions and a few major new construction projects. For instance, the fire destroyed the electrical supply, which was responsible for the control and high voltage of our plants. We managed to temporarily address this with some emergency provisions. The power plant also became unusable, halting both waste processing and the supply of steam and district heating. We managed to continue the supply of district heating with temporary boilers on our site and emergency boilers elsewhere. We are currently building a new steam-water cycle.’ Several plants on the site, including the biomass energy plant, the post-separation installation, and the caustic water treatment plant, were able to restart by the end of last year.
Construction-driven
The largest project is the construction of the new steam plant. ‘In the first phase, KH Engineering acted as a subcontractor for the basic engineering. Subsequently, we directly commissioned KH Engineering to handle the detailed engineering’, says Hadeel. The construction of the steam plant is a unique challenge for everyone involved because it is a construction-driven project. Hadeel explains, ‘In a regular situation, you can more or less leisurely put together an engineering package and then find construction parties to execute it. Now, engineering and construction run in parallel. As well as, for example, obtaining construction permits, procuring materials, and producing prefabricated parts. This requires a different approach. Even within AVR, we have taken on different roles. All this is to get the plant operational again as quickly as possible without compromising safety and quality. This approach requires extensive consultation among all parties involved.’
Building permit
Hadeel is pleased with how KH Engineering is handling its role. ‘We were familiar with KH Engineering from their contribution to the implementation of the post-separation installation in 2019. One of KH Engineering’s strengths is their multidisciplinary expertise: civil engineering, process engineering, and their ability to think outside the box. This was especially evident when applying for the building permit for the steam plant. Despite many variables still being unknown, we managed to obtain the permit. We owe much of this success to KH Engineering; they knew exactly what the permitting authority needed.’
Resumption
Hadeel is cautious about making precise predictions: ‘However, our goal is to be able to process waste from municipalities and businesses again by October 2024 and to resume our contribution to a better climate. We are making substantial progress, which is an achievement in itself.’
For more information about AVR: https://www.avr.nl/en/