Displaying items by tag: Swedish Energy Agency

Sweden: The Swedish Energy Agency has awarded US$12.5m to Boliden under its Industrial Leap initiative to support the development of a low-carbon cement alternative derived from iron-rich residual materials. The product allows for partial replacement of limestone in cement. Boliden is building an industrial demonstration plant to produce, test and verify the new material, which is based on byproducts from its own operations. Boliden estimates that the technology could cut value-chain emissions by around 600,000t/yr of CO₂ if fully implemented across its operations.

“Demonstrating innovative new technology to manufacture products with lower carbon emissions is fully in line with the purpose of the Industrial Leap. By reusing materials in new products instead of depositing them, the project also contributes to more circular use of materials,” said Klara Helstad, Deputy Head of the Department for Research, Innovation and Business Development at the Swedish Energy Agency.

Sweden/India: Cemvision has received a grant from the Swedish Energy Agency to conduct a joint feasibility study with Tata Steel to convert basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and electric arc furnace (EAF) slags into feedstock for near-zero-CO₂ cement. The 10-12-month study will assess the technical and economic viability of a scalable slag valorisation model, ahead of a planned demonstration facility at Tata Steel’s site.

Cemvision CEO Oscar Hållén said “Being able to, at scale, turn environmental liabilities into valuable resources is exactly the kind of climate innovation heavy industry needs. In partnership with Tata Steel, we hope to show how steel slag can become a cornerstone in near-zero CO₂ cement, while metals are recovered and returned to steel production.”

The project is part of the India-Sweden Industry Transition Partnership (ITP), announced during Cop30 in Belém, Brazil. Tata Steel also received a grant from India’s Department of Science and Technology, with additional partners including IIT ISM Dhanbad and JK Cement.

Sweden: Heidelberg Materials Sweden has said that it will ‘pause’ its carbon capture project at the Slite cement plant in Gotland after the Swedish Energy Agency rejected its application for co-financing under the Industrial Step programme. The producer said that the government is currently ‘not prepared’ to strategically prioritise funds for the project. The project aimed to reduce Sweden’s total CO₂ emissions by 1.8Mt/yr, or around 4% of the country’s total emissions. Heidelberg Materials said that, as production in Slite is not being given a way to adjust with secured long-term competitiveness, Sweden now risks becoming dependent on cement imports in the future and could face weakened security of supply.

Vice president Karin Comstedt Webb said “We have worked for a long time to implement one of the most powerful climate investments in Swedish industrial history with the aim of securing long-term competitiveness. But without the state's continued support for implementation, there are currently insufficient conditions to realise the project in Sweden.”

Sweden: SaltX Technology has secured a new grant from the Swedish Energy Agency for its project ‘Demonstration of new electric kiln technology at industrial scale to enable emission-free cement production.’ This funding follows previous support for testing and optimising electric quicklime production at its test and research facility in Hofors, Sweden. The grant aims to adapt and test SaltX's technology specifically for cement production, awarded under the pilot and demonstration program. It constitutes partial funding for the work that is planned to begin in March 2025 at the company's test and research facility.

Acting CEO of SaltX, Lina Jorheden, said "It is very encouraging that the Swedish Energy Agency supports us in our work to commercialise SaltX's electrification technology for the cement industry. The grant is an important component in the upcoming industrialisation phase."

Sweden: Nordkalk has produced lime at its Koping lime plant using 30% biofuel as alternative fuel (AF). The producer now aims to increase the substitution rate to 50%. Nordkalk subsidiary Kalkproduktion Storugns recently began trialling 100% liquid biofuel substitution in continuous operations at its Larbro lime plant. ENP Newswire has reported that both projects are part of a CO₂ emissions reduction initiative in partnership with the Swedish Energy Agency and Umea University.