Yanbu Cement Company (YCC), one of Saudi Arabia’s leading cement companies and a major player in the western region of the kingdom, has signed a contract for the establishment of a 34MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant at its cement plant located north of Yanbu town. Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd of China will set up the WHR plant at a cost of US$61.8m. The agreement was signed in YCC's head office in Jeddah yesterday.

Raouf Abuzinadah, managing director of Yanbu Cement Company, and Hu Yeming, president – Sinoma Energy, sign the

agreement at YCC's head office in the presence of Dr Ahmed Zugail, YCC director general, officials from

the National Commercial Bank and Holtec Consulting Pvt Ltd, India, consultant for the WHR plant


Due to come on-stream by end-2016, the WHR facility will be one of the largest of its kind at a cement plant in the world, and indeed the largest in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement by YCC. Once operational, the plant will result in substantial savings in terms of fuel dependence for power generation from the diesel power station, the company added.  It will also improve the plant's environmental performance by reducing CO2 emissions by more than 100,000tpa.

The WHR plant will meet about a quarter of YCC’s energy requirements. YCC will be able to grind and sell up to 8.5Mta of cement without the need for any additional grinding capacity.

Mr Abdul Raouf Abuzinadah, managing director – Yanbu Cement Company, and Mr Hu Yeming, president – Sinoma Energy, signed the agreement at YCC Head Office, Jeddah, on 4 March 2015 in the presence of Dr Ahmed Zugail, YCC director general, officials from National Commercial Bank and Holtec Consulting Pvt Ltd., India, the consultant for the WHR plant.