Global construction materials producer Etex wants to invest EUR 5-6 million in a new desulfurization plant at the Rovinari coal-fired power plant in Romania, controlled by the Oltenia Energy Complex (CEO), Economica.net reported.

In such a plant, the sulfur from flue gases resulting from the production of electricity in coal-fired power plants is combined with limestone powders and can, if designed so, ultimately result in gypsum - that Etex needs to produce drywalls.

Etex's local subsidiary Etex Building Performance has been operating the sole desulfurization plant in Romania to produce gypsum, at CEO's Turceni power plant. But the production of coal-based power decreased at Turceni, and so did the amount of gypsum produced.

Etex Building Performance has an ongoing contract with the CEO, which is still valid for several years, through which the Turceni thermal power plant supplies the gypsum used by Etex for its products.

The total investments in the Etex Building Performance factory in Turceni have reached over EUR 52 mln.

"Even before this [crisis] period, the quantities of gypsum received did not reach the contractual commitments. This is why we started discussions with the CEO about extending the contract by making in Rovinari an investment similar to the one in Turceni, but at our expense - to recover and dry the plaster resulting from desulphurization instead of simply dump it in the field as waste," explained Gheorghe Budrugeac, industrial director at Etex Building Performance.

(Photo: Etex press kit/ etexgroup.com)

editor@romania-insider.com