Case 01Jul 15, 20267 min read
The ash disposal site of Cherepetskaya GRES holds over 18 million tons of coal ash waste. For the utility, it is a liability and an environmental risk. For us, it is the raw-material base of a high-strength expanded clay plant with 4.46 billion RUB in annual revenue.
Contents
The problem: 18 million tons of "free" raw material#
Coal ash-and-slag waste (ASW) is the most voluminous industrial waste of thermal power generation. The Cherepetskaya GRES disposal site occupies dozens of hectares, requires constant maintenance and creates an environmental burden. The classic approach is site conservation: costs without revenue. We see it differently: a ready-made quarry of raw material that needs neither purchasing nor mining. Raw-material cost is zero or negative (disposal fees).
The technology: next-generation expanded clay#
The FORTIS project processes ASW into high-strength structural expanded clay. The key lab result: granule strength 3–4 times higher than conventional expanded clay at comparable bulk density. This opens the market not only for lightweight concrete but for structural applications where ordinary expanded clay fails strength requirements. Utilization of the source waste is 98–99%: the dump becomes product with almost no residue.
Project economics#
| Revenue | 4.46B RUB/year |
|---|---|
| IRR | 23.2% |
| Payback | 6.25 years |
| ASW utilization | 98–99% |
Building materials are the base level: they fully finance the project, including debt service. This is fundamental: the project does not depend on "complex" revenue at launch.
The three-level model#
FORTIS is built on cascade logic. Level 1 — building materials (expanded clay): covers all costs. Level 2 — extraction of rare-earth metals and valuable components from the same streams at the raw-material preparation stage: nearly pure margin at minimal additional OPEX. Level 3 — own energy and combined effect. Each next level comes to the project almost without overhead — that is the essence of cascade processing.
Scientific and regulatory base#
The technology is developed with RAS institutes: IGI RAS technopark, IPKON RAS, IFKhE RAS, jointly with AXIONIT. Product testing is carried out at VNIIzHB — the leading building-materials institute. The project is included in the EPR (extended producer responsibility) framework with expert support from ASI — providing regulatory priority and a protected sales channel.
What's next#
Current status: VNIIzHB trials, EPR registration at ASI. Next steps — a pilot industrial line and the first commercial contract. The project is open to strategic investors and industrial partners.
Discuss a similar project
Have a waste stream or a site? We'll work out the technology and economics.
