Press releases

Renault's Tangier plant, which will produce vehicles based on the B0 platform (Logan), will start up in early 2012 with one production line and an annual output capacity of 170,000 vehicles. Ultimately, capacity will be increased to 400,000 vehicles/year

The environmental impact of Renault's Tangier plant will be reduced to levels that have never been reached by a bodywork-assembly plant:

• CO2 emissions will be cut by 98%⁽¹⁾, the equivalent of about 135,000 tons of CO2 per year.
• no industrial waste water will be discharged into the natural ecosystem and the quantity of water consumed by manufacturing processes will be cut by 70%.

These results will be achieved through innovative manufacturing processes, the use of renewable energy and the optimization of the water cycle.

CO2 emissions from the Tangier plant will be cut by 98%, a figure that represents 135,000 fewer tons of CO2 every year, by optimizing energy consumption and using renewable energies. The few remaining tons of CO2 will be offset either by buying carbon credits or by generating renewable energy on site.

Step 1: reduce the site's consumption of thermal energy

Renault and Veolia Environnement have worked together to cut the site's consumption, and Renault has revised its painting processes, especially in the baking phases. Substantial energy savings have been made by combining innovative technologies and best practices for the recovery of energy in the paintshop, which accounts for 70% of the plant's thermal energy consumption. The thermal energy requirements of the Tangier plant will be cut by 35% (more than 40 GWh PCI per year), compared with a plant with an equivalent production capacity.

Step 2: zero CO2 thermal energy generation

Veolia Environnement and Renault together identified a zero-CO2 thermal energy generation system. Biomass boilers will produce the high-pressure, superheated water that is required, amongst others, for the paint process ovens and the heating water used in other manufacturing processes, plus the ventilation of the air in the buildings on the site. Part of the fuel for the biomass boilers will be made up of locally sourced olive stones. Initially, the rest of the fuel will be made up of eucalyptus wood imported from Southern Europe, and, 4 years hence, short-rotation eucalyptus from Morocco.

The Moroccan National Electricity Office's campaign to develop renewable energy forms will allow the site to be powered entirely by wind and hydraulic electricity.

The Tangier plant will not discharge any industrial liquids and will cut its water consumption for manufacturing processes by 70% in comparison with a plant with equivalent output capacity.

These results have been achieved by:

• optimizing the manufacturing processes to reduce the need for water and the corresponding discharges;
• using leading-edge technologies developed by Veolia Environnement to recycle all the industrial effluents. A number of steps are required to transform the effluents into purified, demineralized water. This water, which meets the quality standards of the processes, can then be reused on the vehicle production lines.

These improvements will avoid taking the equivalent of 175 Olympic swimming pools⁽²⁾ of water from the ecosystem every year.

"A new industrial approach with a lasting commitment creates demands for results that go far beyond conventional solutions. With the Tangier plant, Veolia Environnement has demonstrated its capacity to propose solutions that break with traditional methods in order to meet the demands of its customers," states Stéphane Caine, Director of Industrial Markets and New Activities at Veolia Environnement. "Renault and Veolia Environnement achieved this level of performance by working together on a co-design project right from the outset."

(1) In comparison with an equivalent plant producing 400,000 vehicles

(2) An Olympic swimming pool = 50m x 25m x 2m = 2,500m3