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A new heat recovery system at Galco Cork is expected to reduce the plant’s natural gas consumption by approximately 10-15% by putting heat already generated during the galvanizing process back to work.
The installation forms part of the Galco Group Carbon Emissions Transition Plan and supports our target of reducing carbon intensity across the Group by 37% by 2030.
It is also the third Galco plant to introduce this type of heat recovery technology, following successful projects in Waterford and Dublin.
From wasted heat to useful energy
At our Cork plant, the galvanizing furnace naturally generates surplus heat. At the same time, several process chemical tanks need to be maintained at the correct temperature and have traditionally been heated using a gas-fired boiler.
That created a simple challenge.
We were producing usable heat in one part of the plant while consuming natural gas to generate heat somewhere else.
The new heat exchanger changes that.
How heat recovery works at Galco Cork
The system captures surplus heat generated by the furnace and transfers it to the process chemical tanks.
Instead of allowing that energy to go unused, it becomes part of the production process again.
By replacing a significant proportion of the heat previously supplied by the gas boiler, the new system is expected to reduce natural gas consumption at the Cork plant by approximately 10-15%.
In practical terms, the same production process becomes more energy efficient without compromising the galvanizing operation.
More than a reduction in gas consumption
Our experience with similar heat recovery installations at Galco Dublin and Waterford has shown that the benefits can extend beyond lower carbon emissions.
These projects can contribute to:
- reduced natural gas consumption and energy costs;
- longer process bath life;
- reduced zinc consumption;
- improved monitoring of energy performance;
- better operational data to support future efficiency investments.
That last point is particularly important.
Decarbonisation is not only about installing new technology. Better data allows us to understand where energy is being used, identify further opportunities and make better-informed investment decisions across our plants.
A proven solution that can be replicated
The Cork installation is not an isolated sustainability project.
It is part of a wider strategy to identify practical improvements at plant level, measure their impact and then replicate successful solutions across the Galco Group.
The approach is simple: recover energy where possible, reduce unnecessary fuel consumption and use operating data to guide the next investment.
With an estimated 10-15% reduction in natural gas consumption in Cork, heat recovery in galvanizing can make a direct contribution to our wider target of reducing carbon intensity by 37% by 2030.
And because the technology has already been introduced at multiple Galco sites, we can apply experience from one plant to the next.
Supported by Enterprise Ireland
The Cork investment was supported by the Enterprise Ireland Decarbonisation Grant.
This support has helped Galco continue the rollout of proven energy-efficiency technology and accelerate projects included within our Carbon Emissions Transition Plan.
The objective is not simply to introduce individual environmental initiatives, but to progressively improve the efficiency of our industrial operations across the Group.
What comes next?
Cork is now the third Galco plant to adopt this heat recovery approach, following Dublin and Waterford.
And the programme continues.
Work is under way at our Derry plant, where a new, larger galvanizing bath will increase the Group’s overall capacity. As part of that investment, the plant will also be equipped with a heat exchanger designed to recover and reuse surplus process heat.
The Derry project is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
Each individual installation represents a relatively simple idea: use more of the energy we already generate before buying more energy to replace it.
Replicated across several plants, however, those individual improvements can make a meaningful contribution to lower-carbon galvanizing across the Galco Group.