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CATL has applied for an amendment to the originally submitted and approved environmental permit to allow construction work to start on a smaller area, with reduced energy requirements and much lower emissions.
Although CATL has already complied with EU and Hungarian standards, the operating parameters may now be further tightened. CATL has redesigned its plans before the start of construction. A review of the new environmental permit application available on the Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office website shows that CATL decided to modify its original plans before the start of construction, mainly for environmental and production efficiency reasons. This would allow the construction of the factory on a smaller site, reducing energy requirements. The change will also significantly reduce CATL’s emissions.
If the new permit is granted, CATL will build the factory and the associated buildings on a 13 per cent smaller area, as the total area required will be reduced from 277,188 square meters to 240,435 square meters. They will also have a lower energy demand than originally planned.
The amount of natural gas to be used will be reduced, further reducing air pollution. Of the 10 boilers originally planned, only 9 will be in operation, and 1 will be used as a backup. The number of point sources will also be reduced from 49 to 45, which will help to preserve air quality in Debrecen.
The amendment will also reduce the peak exposure values for several substances, meaning that even fewer of them will be released into the air:
the previously calculated maximum peak exposure value for NMP will be reduced from 23.6 μg/m3 to 15.1 μg/m3 (whereas the limit value for ambient air measured outdoors in the EU legislation is 100 μg/m3), the peak load for carbon monoxide is reduced from 109.4 μg/m3 to 59.29 μg/m3, and the peak load for sulphur dioxide from 20 μg/m3 to 6,62 μg/m3.the concentration of the NMP solvent used in battery production is also drastically reduced by 34% (from the permitted 18,2 mg C/Nm3 to 12,1 mg C/Nm3).
This will be achieved by using the best available separation technology on the market (conditioning recovery + adsorption unit). The separation unit is manufactured in Japan and has a capacity greater than the planned emissions so that the emission limit value can be met with a high degree of certainty.
The application for a permit modification is also an indication: on the one hand, that negotiations with the investor have been successful in fully integrating environmental considerations and, on the other, that CATL continues to look for new solutions to do more to achieve carbon neutrality, protect the environment and thus a better and more liveable future. As CATL President Robin Zeng has previously said, it is essential to reduce carbon emissions from the battery industry, which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the carbon emissions generated during the lifecycle of electric vehicles. Since 2019, his company has intensified its efforts to analyse, find and develop solutions to reduce carbon emissions from the battery industry. CATL has set a goal to achieve carbon neutrality in all battery manufacturing plants by 2025 and across the entire battery value chain by 2035.
Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Facebook (Papp László)
