Displaying items by tag: Holcim Belgium

Belgium: Holcim Belgium has received an environmental permit for the kiln upgrade for its 100% decarbonisation of its Obourg cement plant. Agency Belgium News has reported that the upgraded kiln will employ a 'new incineration concept' to enable it to replace limestone with alternative raw materials. It will reduce the plant's thermal needs by 40% and its CO₂ emissions per tonne of clinker by 30%. Construction will commence in late 2023. The kiln replacement will support a carbon capture installation as part of the GO4ZERO project.

The first phase of the GO4ZERO project is running from 2022 to 2025, and commands total investments of over Euro350m.

Belgium: Holcim and TotalEnergies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work towards the full decarbonisation of the Obourg cement plant. Various energies and technologies will be assessed for the capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) of around 1.3Mt/yr of CO₂ emitted by the unit. The project will include working towards building an oxyfuel switchable kiln as part of an upgrade project at the plant and the transportation and use of the captured CO₂ by TotalEnergies for a synthetic fuel producing scheme and/or deposit in geological storage in the North Sea.

TotalEnergies will also assess the development of renewable projects to power a new electrolyser, which would generate the green hydrogen needed to produce synthetic fuels. This new renewable energy production capacity would also power Holcim’s new oxyfuel kiln. Finally, the oxygen emitted by the electrolyser would be used to fuel the new kiln.

Bart Daneels, the chief executive officer of Holcim Belgium said “Cement industry decarbonisation is extremely challenging because of the process's inevitable CO₂ emissions, which put us firmly in the hard-to-abate sector. CCUS is vital for Obourg to become the first net carbon neutral clinker plant in northwest Europe. We are very happy to work with TotalEnergies to accelerate the development of these CCUS solutions for GO4ZERO. By joining the first movers, we want to set the standards for future clinker manufacturing plants.”

Belgium: Holcim Belgium has joined Fluxys open-access CO₂ transport network project. It intends to use the Fluxys network to either transport captured CO2 for sequestration in the North Sea or reuse in other industry after it builds a new 6000t/day production line at its Obourg plant by early 2026. As part of this process Holcim Belgium also plans to build a cryogenic CO₂ capture and treatment unit at Obourg by early 2028.

Pascal De Buck, the chief executive officer of Fluxys, said "Holcim's interest in our CO₂ network project at the Mons industrial cluster confirms the efforts industries are making to find solutions for decarbonising their activities. We're here to meet that need, which is why we offer them an open-access CO₂ network they can use to transport their captured CO₂ to storage or reuse sites. This kind of network helps achieve climate objectives and contributes to the long-term viability of the economy."

The proposed Fluxys CO₂ transport network will see the construction and creation in Belgium of pipelines, intermodal hubs, port terminals and shipping from 2025 onwards. The proposed infrastructure is intended to transport three gases: CO₂, hydrogen and methane.

Belgium: Holcim Belgium hopes to complete its Obourg cement plant’s Go4Zero oxyfuel kiln conversion and carbon capture installation project by 2025, in order to achieve carbon neutrality at the plant by 2030. The producer says that the plans involves establishing a new 135m-high cooling tower, instead of a 145m-high tower as previously planned.

In an effort to rally local support, Holcim Belgium will begin offering virtual reality (VR) tours of the upgraded plant plans in September 2022.

Chief executive officer Bart Daneels said “We would like to start this project, which will be a world premiere in the cement industry.”

Belgium: Holcim Belgium is hosting a public meeting as a preliminary step towards applying for a permit to install a new kiln line at its Obourg cement plant in Mons. The line is intended to replace the existing kiln line as it reaches the end of its operational life. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim has called the proposed project Go4Zero. The new kiln will be designed to concentrate CO₂ emissions to allow for capture and recovery. Limestone for the plant will be extracted from a quarry at Tournaisis and transported to the plant by railway.

Belgium: Holcim Belgium has finished loading around 1250t of cement from its 1.7Mt/yr integrated Obourg cement plant onto a train in Obourg in Belgium’s Hainaut province. It leaves on 24 September 2019 for Lafarge France’s Bonneuile-Sur-Marne, Île-de-France depot. La Province has reported that LafargeHolcim began the process on 20 September 2019 with the conveyance of cement by three shuttle trucks to the train’s 12 carriages. LafargeHolcim spokesperson Séverine Baudoin has explained that the undertaking, LafargeHolcim’s first of its kind in the region, is a part of its sustainable development plan applied to distribution to new clients in the Paris area.