Bulgarian fertilizer producer Agropolychim and Swiss company Casale SA have signed an agreement that will ultimately increase the Bulgarian firm’s nitrogen fertilizer production capacity to 1.5 million mt/y, Agropolychim said in a May 19 press release.
Casale will license and engineer a new state-of-the-art dual pressure nitric acid unit that will also allow the enhancement of local green energy production, the Swiss company reported on its website. The plant is scheduled to be commissioned before the end of 2027.
Agropolychim has been operating a dual pressure nitric acid unit based on Casale technology since 1973. Its nitrogen fertilizer production facilities include capacity for production of ammonium nitrate, CAN, CN, and UAN.
The new unit is part of a five-year €250-mllion (approximately $269 million at current exchange rates) investment plan by the Bulgarian fertilizer producer.
Agropolychim since 2018 has been producing steam for process needs with biomass at a rate of 36 MWh, which allowed it to maintain production at over 100% of its capacity last year despite the gas crisis in Europe. Over the last five years, Agropolychim’s gas consumption has decreased by 98%, Casale reported.
Last year, the fertilizer producer further reduced its dependence on natural gas by completing a major overhaul of several of its production facilities that has helped it reduce natural gas consumption and was part the five-year investment plan (GM Sept. 2, 2022).
According to a SeeNews report, citing the Bulgarian commercial register, Agropolychim is owned by British Virgin Islands’ registered firm Acid & Fertilizers Ltd.