UK: Holcim UK has welcomed a €33.1m investment by the National Wealth Fund into the Peak Cluster carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which will decarbonise 40% of the UK’s cement and lime production and support over 2000 existing jobs, as well as creating new ones. Led by Progressive Energy, Peak Cluster is a partnership between Holcim UK, Breedon, Tarmac and Sigma Roc involving cement and lime plants in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, including Holcim UK’s 1Mt/yr Cauldon plant. The project aims to reduce annual carbon emissions from its partners by 3Mt/yr from 2032 (25% of annual CO₂ output for the area), by capturing CO₂ from the plants and transporting it by pipeline to Morecambe Net Zero's disused gas fields under the East Irish Sea.
The investment will fund front-end engineering and design (FEED) and other studies to support a final investment decision in 2028. Holcim UK CEO Lee Sleight said that CCS is ‘essential’ to decarbonise cement manufacturing and achieve net zero by 2050.
Peak Cluster CEO John Egan said it will create a ‘backbone of industrial opportunity’ across northern England.
