Displaying items by tag: Germany
Europe: The Carbon Negative Biofuels from Organic Waste (Carbiow) project has received EU funding under the Horizon Europe initiative. Carbiow seeks to develop a dense, dry homogenous marine and aviation biofuel by carbonising gasification ash with oxygen and captured CO2 from cement plants. 12 consortium members from the Benelux, Germany, Nordic countries, Slovenia and Spain are participating in the project.
Catch4Climate to start building oxyfuel pilot unit at Mergelstetten
10 November 2022Germany: The Catch4Climate project says it is ready to build an oxyfuel pilot unit at Schwenk Zement’s Mergelstetten plant following approval by the Stuttgart Regional Council. The project comprises Dyckerhoff, Heidelberg Materials, Schwenk Zement and Vicat, and It has set up a research company called CI4C to run it. Over Euro120m will be invested towards building a dedicated 450t/day production line to test the oxyfuel process. Jürgen Thormann, the Technical Managing Director of CI4C, said that this is the first time a so-called ‘pure’ oxyfuel process will be used for CO2 capture. At a later stage in the project the consortium plans to use the captured CO2 to produce so-called ‘reFuels’, climate-neutral synthetic fuels such as kerosene for aircraft, with the help of renewable electrical energy. Commissioning of the unit is scheduled for mid-2024.
Heidelberg Materials ‘weathering’ high costs
07 November 2022Germany: Heidelberg Materials has reported that it has increased its revenue by 13% year-on-year to Euro15.8bn during the first nine months of 2022. It said that high energy and raw material costs seen during the third quarter were only partly offset. The group’s net result for the nine-month period showed a 6.1% decline to Euro2.72bn. The decline was also due to significantly higher energy prices and increased raw material costs, which Heidelberg Materials said could only be offset partially by energy savings, cost discipline and price increases.
In the first nine months of 2022, sales volumes in all business lines declined due to consolidation and the economic impact from the Russian-Ukraine war on the European economy. Cement and clinker sales reduced by 6% to 90.0Mt, compared to 95.7Mt in the first nine months of 2021. Heidelberg Materials cited capacity reduction in North America, specifically its Western US operations, and the economic downturn in Europe as factors. Excluding consolidation effects, cement and clinker sales were down by 3.8%.
Heidelberg Materials said that it forecasts increased revenue for 2022, which will be adversely affected by increased outgoings. It expects global demand for building materials to weaken slightly on the back of higher costs and inflationary pressures.
Germany/Australia: Calix subsidiary Leilac has concluded a licence agreement with Heidelberg Materials for use of its carbon capture technology. The cement producer holds the licence indefinitely and for all operations across the globe. It said that Leilac’s technology offers effective capture of unavoidable cement plant CO2 emissions with minimal operational impact.
Heidelberg Materials currently has one Leilac system installed at its Lixhe plant in Belgium. It expects to commence construction of a second unit at its Hanover plant in Germany in 2023. Together, the installations will be able to capture 125,000t/yr of CO2. The producer says that both projects pave the way for future full-scale deployment of Leilac’s carbon capture model.
Thomas Gruppe acquires Opterra Zement and Opterra Beton from CRH
26 October 2022Germany: Ireland-based CRH has agreed to sell its subsidiaries Opterra Zement and Opterra Beton to Thomas Gruppe. Thomas Gruppe expects to complete its acquisition of the businesses later in 2022. Opterra Zement owns the 1.4Mt/yr Karsdorf, Saxony-Anhalt, cement plant and 0.5Mt/yr Sötenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, grinding plant, the latter of which is closed. Opterra Beton operates the Neufahrn, Bavaria, ready-mix concrete batching plant.
Thomas Gruppe said "For years, we have been pursuing a steady and long-term growth course in the field of cement and precast and ready-mix concrete. In the cement segment, our competitive position improved significantly with the purchase of the Erwitte (North Rhine-Westphalia) plant in 2017. Together with the grinding plant in Dorndorf (Thuringia), we have achieved a significantly larger area coverage in Germany, and also in the Netherlands, and benefit from synergy effects." It continued "We would like to continue on this growth course. An opportunity like the one to take over the cement plant in Karsdorf does not come often. The Karsdorf plant, with its gigantic limestone deposits, its market position of well over 1Mt/yr of cement and its experienced team, enables us better to supply our customers, and to leverage improvement potential. In addition, Karsdorf is of sufficient size for us to install CO2 separation technology in its production of clinker for the Dorndorf grinding plant." Thomas Gruppe concluded "We are convinced that cement will become a clean building material and believe in its future."
KHD hosts ACCSESS consortium meeting in Cologne
26 October 2022Germany: KHD hosted a meeting of the research and development consortium of the ACCSESS project in Cologne on 18 and 19 October 2022. The consortium is intended to develop replicable carbon capture utilisation and storage pathways to support a net zero strategy in Europe by 2050. KHD’s involvement with the project concerns running engineering feasibility studies for the retrofit of CCUS projects at two cement plants in Europe. It is also working on the concept development for a new clinker production technology, which is optimised as a new plant for operation with downstream carbon capture technology.
Other project partners working on ACCSESS of note to the cement sector include Heidelberg Materials and the German Cement Works Association (VDZ). Project completion is scheduled for mid-2025 with KHD’s contributions to be delivered by mid-2024.
Science-Based Targets Initiative reviews Heidelberg Materials' emissions reduction targets
12 October 2022Germany: Heidelberg Materials has reaffirmed its 2030 CO2 emissions reduction targets and submitted them to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for review. These include a reduction in Scope 1 emissions per tonne of cementitious material of 47% between 1990 and 2030. The initiative will now ensure that the targets conform to a 1.5°C climate change scenario.
Heidelberg Materials chair Dominik von Achten said “We have been actively supporting SBTi’s efforts to develop a 1.5°C roadmap and impactful criteria for the cement industry. With the industry's most ambitious CO2 reduction targets and a steadily growing portfolio of CCUS projects, we are eager to continue leading the way.”
Competition body blocks Heidelberg Materials’ acquisition of majority stake in Tanga Cement
12 October 2022Tanzania: The Fair Competition Tribunal (FCT) has blocked an attempt by Heidelberg Materials to buy a 68% stake in Tanga Cement for around US$59m saying it was contrary to the law. The Germany-based building materials producer announced in October 2021 that it had agreed to buy Tanga Cement from South Africa-based AfriSam via various subsidiaries, according to the Citizen newspaper. The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) provisionally approved the transaction but required the buyer to keep the operations of Tanga Cement running, to continue producing and promoting the Simba Cement (Tanga Cement) brand and to keep employing the existing staff at Tanga Cement. However, Chalinze Cement Limited and the Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society opposed the decision due to a potential reduction in market competition and successfully made an appeal to the FCT.
In a statement Tanga Cement said that Heidelberg Materials and AfriSam were, “considering how to proceed, but the FCT ruling has placed the acquisition at great risk of not being implemented.” It added that the parties were waiting for a formal ruling from the FCT and would then seek further advice on how to proceed.
Ciments Calcia sets date for start of construction of new production line at Airvault plant
28 September 2022France: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments Calcia plans to lay the first stone of a major upgrade project at its Airvault cement plant on 5 October 2022. The event will mark the start of the construction phase of a new 4000t/day clinker production line, according to La Nouvelle République newspaper. The Euro300m project will be built by Germany-based ThyssenKrupp.
Heidelberg Materials considering shutting plants in Germany based on future energy prices
28 September 2022Germany: Heidelberg Materials says it is considering shutting down plants in Germany due to the high cost of gas and electricity. In comments reported by Reuters chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, "If power prices won't come down sustainably, we would have to take individual plants in Germany completely off the grid. That's what we have prepared for." He added that the company is shifting production to times and days when power prices are lower including at the weekend. However, changing staff shift patterns has required ongoing discussions with labour unions.
The building materials company expects its energy bill to rise by around half year-on-year to over Euro3bn in 2022. It has called on the German government to place a cap on energy prices despite measures the company has already taken to protect itself from soaring costs, such as using alternative fuels.