Arabian Cement Company (ACC) has completed its latest addition to its alternative fuel processing equipment at its plant in the Suez governorate, as part of the Egyptian cement producer's shift towards diversifying its sources of energy.

The HotDisc® combustion device by FLSmidth (Denmark) has been commissioned at ACC Ramliya's plant. The installation is part of ACC's strategy to substitute 100 per cent of its current energy sources with a mix of solid and alternative fuels by the end of 2Q15 to overcome gas shortages.

The company has been able to substitute 70 per cent of its energy needs through coal. The company started using RDF in November 2013, and intends to gradually increase alternative fuels usage from 10 per cent (as at 1Q15) to 30 per cent by the end of 2Q15 when the second RDF line is fully operational.

In the first three months of the year, ACC produced 0.95Mt of clinker compared to 0.85Mt in the same period of the previous year. The increase is mainly attributed to the availability of diesel starting in 2015, in addition to utilising the fully-installed coal grinding capacity. Accordingly, clinker capacity utilisation stood at 91 per cent. The cement capacity utilisation rate increased to 86 per cent in 1Q15 compared to 76 per cent from a year earlier.