We strive, on a daily basis, to improve the management of GHG emissions, reduce consumption of fresh water and thus improve our water management, minimize the waste produced and ramp up recycling rates, reduce the energy consumption in the production and transportation systems and protect biodiversity.
We pay great attention to observing the best practices the quality health-safety-environment (QHSE) management system.
Emissions
GHG permits, valid until the end of 2020 (Phase III), were issued in 2013 for both Petromidia and Vega refineries, with annual external audits being conducted in order to verify CO2 calculations for the previous year. The permit for Petromidia was revised in June 2019 (integrated refinery and petrochemicals GHG activities).
CO 2 Emissions Highlights 963,953 tons generated by Petromidia Refinery and Petrochemical Plant (June-December 2020) 28,906 tons generated by Petrochemical Plant before incorporation (January-May 2020) 50,646 tons generated by Vega Refinery.
Waste recovery
Our waste recovery rate for Petromidia refinery in 2019 was 77.5%, with a waste generation rate of 1.26 kg of waste/ton of raw material processed. In 2019, Petromidia Refinery continued the activity of emptying the historical sludge from lagoon no.1 (approx. 12,800 tones).
The sludge was co-incinerated at CRH through Ecomaster, the Group’s entity specialized in integrated ecological services for industrial waste management. Total waste recorded by Vega refinery was lower by 17%, a decrease from 736.97 tons in 2018, to 607.46 tons. Also, in 2019, the refinery in Ploiesti started treating (stabilizing and solidification of the acid tars) in the historical lagoons of the refinery. While within the Group’s Retail Business Unit, with a total generated waste in the amount of 8,560 tons, Rompetrol Downstream registered an increase from the previous year as a direct result of the Group’s retail network expansion, (7388 tons in 2019, compared to 5254 in 2018), Rompetrol Gas maintained its generated waste at the level of the previous year (1,172 tons).
Energy Management
The reduction of the operation costs in parallel with the increase in the mechanical and operational availability allowed an improvement of Petromidia Refinery’s Energy Intensity Index, which reached 97.1 points. A constant improvement in energy indicators can be observed starting 2012, due to various factors, such as the increase in the refinery’s complexity following the implementation of the “Package 2010” project implementation, the higher throughput (year by year increase) and energy efficiency measures (low cost/no cost) & projects.
In 2019, Petromidia Refinery recorded an energy consumption 2.99 GJ/mt related to the ton of throughput, situated at the same level the one recorded in the previous year. The utilities cost increased by 3.6% (USD ~0,34/ton), up to USD 9.6/ ton, as compared to the previous year, correlated with an increase in the prices of utilities. Total energy input for Petromidia Refinery in 2019 reached 475,871 MWh, a relevant decrease in the context of its processing capacity considerable increase, generated by the improvement of its energetic efficiency as well as its operational focus on enhancing energetic performance.
As for Vega Refinery, the energy consumption reported to throughput ton suffered a decrease by approximately 2% in 2019, operational result stemming from the different functioning of the plants, as well as the measures taken to reduce consumption. Fuel gas consumption reported by the ton (GJ/to) decreased by 0.2%, while the power and steam consumption reported by the ton (GJ/to) also decreased, by 1.4%. With a total energy input of 10,940.004 MW in 2019, Vega’s energy consumption reported by the ton registered an increase by 6% as compared to the previous year.
Due to the low flow rate of the LDPE installation and the conservation of the HDPE unit throughout the entire year, the Petrochemical Division only saw improvements only in its power consumption, from 5.3 to 4.9 GJ/to in 2019. Since utilities consumed during non-operation increase the EIP, the Petrochemical Division reached an energy index of 18.7, slightly higher than the 18.18 of 2018.