ORC (Organic Ranking Cycle) turbine installations
In order to reduce the amount of electricity taken from the national grids, the Saint-Gobain Group has opted for self-consumption by installing ORC turbines to meet part of the needs of its sites in Pisa (Italy) and Chennai (India).
Main project's drivers for reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Energy and resource efficiency
Energy Decarbonisation
Energy efficiency improvements
Improving efficiency in non-energy resources
Emission removal
Financing low-carbon issuers or disinvestment from carbon assets
Reduction of other greenhouse gases emission
Project objectives
Reducing electricity consumption from the grid at the Pisa and Chennai sites by installing Organic Ranking Cycle (ORC) turbines, using the waste heat from furnace fumes.
In order to improve the energy efficiency of its production sites and limit their carbon impact, the Saint-Gobain Group has chosen to install ORC (Organic Ranking Cycle) turbines, which use the waste heat from furnace fumes to produce electricity.
An ORC turbine recovers about 5MW of thermal heat from the furnace fumes, which allows the production of about 1MW of electricity.
As the electricity is self-consumed by the plant, this electricity production limits the consumption of electricity from the national grid.
The application of this ORC technology is a first for the Saint-Gobain Group.
Emission scope(s)
on which the project has a significant impact
Scope 1
Direct emissions generated by the company's activity.
Scope 2
Indirect emissions associated with the company's electricity and heat consumption.
Scope 3
Emissions induced (upstream or downstream) by the company's activities, products and/or services in its value chain.
Emission Removal
Carbon sinks creation, (BECCS, CCU/S, …)
Avoided Emissions
Emissions avoided by the activities, products and/or services in charge of the project, or by the financing of emission reduction projects.
Scope 2
- Quantification : 9,4 ktCO2/year
The ORC turbine partially meets the electricity needs of the sites. On average, an ORC system produces about 8,500 MWh/year of electricity.
Considering that the average emission factor of the Italian grid is 0.4 tCO2/MWh and that the Indian grid is 0.7 tCO2/MWh, this amounts to a CO2 gain of 3.4 ktCO2/year for the Italian site and 6 ktCO2/year for the Indian site.
Key points
Invested amount
5 M€ per installation
Starting date of the project
2019
Project localisation
Pise (Italy) et Chennai (India)
Project maturity level
Prototype laboratory test (TRL 7)
Real life testing (TRL 7-8)
Pre-commercial prototype (TRL 9)
Small-scale implementation
Medium to large scale implementation
Economic profitability of the project (ROI)
Short term (0-3 years)
Middle term (4-10 years)
Long term (> 10 years)
Illustrations of the project
This ORC turbine project impacts the average CO2 emission level of the national electricity grid, by switching the corresponding consumption to ORC electricity production.
The project also contributes to the achievement of the Saint-Gobain Group’s CSR objectives, in particular the objective of carbon neutrality for 2050.
Reproducibility compatible on all float lines, with a particular interest on those located in countries with a high CO2 electrical emission factor. The level of available waste heat in the flue gas of the float process must be adapted to the technical and economic dimensioning of this type of technology.
Sufficient availability of the waste heat from the furnace flue gas, which is variable depending on the capacity of the furnace, and good maintenance of the installation over time are two factors that determine the success of such a project.
Several partners were involved in the installation of the ORC turbines in the Saint-Gobain plants:
- Contractors: GEA Group AG (project management) and TURBODEN S.P.A. (supplier of the ORC turbine)
- Local contractors for various supply and assembly works
- Public aid:
- Pisa: State via Italian subsidies White certificates
- Chennai: no public aid
Contact the company carrying the project :
dehs@saint-gobain.com
