Finnish chemical company Kemira will carry out two new investments totaling nearly €40 million to build two new plants at its facilities in La Canonja, Tarragona.
On the one hand, the company plans to build the first activated carbon reactivation plant in the Iberian Peninsula, an innovative technology for removing contaminants from drinking water. On the other, Kemira will expand the production of aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH), enabling the company to manufacture this high-performance coagulant primarily used in drinking water treatment plants.
For these expansion projects in Catalonia, Kemira has received support from ACCIÓ, the Catalan Government’s agency for business competitiveness and growth.
At its Tarragona facilities, the Finnish multinational specializes in manufacturing products for water treatment that are subsequently supplied to municipal wastewater treatment plants. Through these investments, Kemira will improve the sustainability of its ACH production processes while positioning itself as a leading provider of activated carbon reactivation services, a market experiencing growing demand.
The company has already begun planning a €20 million investment in the construction of the used activated carbon reactivation plant—as announced to the market last February—which would be the first facility of its kind on the Iberian Peninsula. Kemira aims to double its revenues in La Canonja through this project, currently in the pre-engineering phase, with operations expected to begin in 2029.
The facility will serve both drinking water and wastewater treatment markets across the Iberian Peninsula. By establishing this new plant, Kemira will provide Catalonia with activated carbon reactivation capabilities and help meet growing demand driven by increasingly stringent regulations on contaminant removal.
Activated carbon is a key technology for removing contaminants from drinking water. Reactivation allows granular or pelletized activated carbon to be regenerated and reused up to seven times, promoting more sustainable treatment processes.
Kemira’s second planned investment, also valued at approximately €20 million and already under construction, is the new ACH production plant, as announced by the company last summer. ACH is a high-basicity polyaluminum chloride that delivers superior performance compared with alternative treatment methods for removing color and particles from water. It is particularly effective during periods of heavy rainfall and flooding, a challenge that is becoming increasingly common across many European cities.
ACH offers a significantly higher aluminum concentration than conventional products such as aluminum sulfate or standard polyaluminum chloride. This not only improves treatment efficiency but also reduces logistics-related CO₂ emissions, making it a more sustainable solution.
This will be the multinational’s first ACH production plant in Southern Europe and is expected to become operational in 2028. The facility will complement the company’s existing production capacity in the United States and Poland.
According to Jaume Baró i Torres, Secretary for Business and Competitiveness and CEO of ACCIÓ, “the fact that the first activated carbon reactivation plant on the Iberian Peninsula will be built in Catalonia, and particularly in the Tarragona region, reinforces and confirms the industrial strength of our chemical sector and its application of cutting-edge technologies in water treatment, promotes sustainability, and demonstrates our ability to attract strategic investment.”
For her part, Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen, Executive Vice President of Water Solutions at Kemira, stated that “the construction of these facilities will strengthen our local water treatment offering and allow us to capitalize on growing demand across the region.”
Kemira is the leading water treatment company in Europe and North Africa and one of the world’s foremost providers of sustainable chemical solutions for water-intensive industries. Founded in 1920, Kemira reported annual revenues of €2.8 billion in 2025 and employs approximately 4,900 people worldwide. The company is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
Catalonia’s Push to Attract Foreign Investment
The Catalan Government has launched a new strategy to attract, secure, and retain foreign direct investment in Catalonia for the 2026–2030 period. The objective is to facilitate 600 foreign investment projects generating €6 billion in investment—including reinvestments by foreign-owned subsidiaries already operating in the region—and to create and maintain 45,000 jobs.
At the same time, the government has set a target of reaching 10,000 foreign-owned subsidiaries established in Catalonia.
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