Asturiana de Zinc has announced plans for a new heat recovery facility at its San Juan de Nieva plant in Avilés, which is expected to produce around 33,000 MWh annually. This initiative aims to reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by approximately 6,000 tons of CO2 per year. The facility will feature a new steam turbogenerator, complementing the existing ones installed in 1976 and 1997.
The construction of the facility, with a projected budget of 19 million euros, is slated for 2026. The engineering development of the project is currently underway and is expected to be completed within the first four months of 2025. Asturiana de Zinc has submitted this project for the 2024 grants under the integrated action projects for the decarbonization of the manufacturing industry, as part of the strategic project for recovery and economic transformation (Perte) of decarbonization. This submission also includes a photovoltaic park that will be installed on the old waste deposits.
On July 1, 2024, a provisional resolution for these subsidies allocated 8.7 million euros for both projects. The new heat recovery facility will incorporate a heat exchange system that uses waste heat to support the plant’s acid leaching process. The excess thermal energy will power the new turbogenerator, which will have an installed capacity of approximately 5 MWe.
Combined, the electricity production from these two decarbonization Perte projects will generate 65,600 MWh per year, solely for internal use in zinc production. This will reduce the plant’s electricity grid consumption by 3.3% and cut its carbon footprint by 10,600 tons of CO2 annually, according to the company.
Asturiana de Zinc consumes two million MWh per year, equivalent to 4 MWh per ton of zinc. In 2023, electricity costs accounted for 55% of production expenses, compared to 75% in 2022. 
