Displaying items by tag: carbon capture and storage
Polish cement industry advances with CCS technology
19 April 2024Poland: Polish cement producers are set to build carbon capture installations, supported by government policies. After a decline in production from nearly 19Mt in 2022 to about 16.5Mt in 2023, the industry is facing an increase in cheaper imports from outside the EU, particularly Ukraine, and CO₂ emission fees that account for 30% of the cost of 1t of cement, according to the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper. The EU has also introduced a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for imports.
Despite these challenges, the Kujawy cement plant in Bielawy, owned by Holcim, is launching the large-scale implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
Holcim Polska's president, Maciej Sypek, said "The construction of carbon capture installations in our plants will cost between €320m and €400m. We received a €264m grant from the European Commission's Innovation Fund." According to Sypek, the project is currently in the design phase, with construction expected to start in 2025 and operations beginning in early 2028.
The implementation of CCS at the Kujawy plant could potentially lead to an industry-wide adoption of the technology, costing between US$3.7bn and US$4.9bn, according to the newspaper. Holcim Polska plans to liquefy the CO₂ and transport it by rail to a terminal in Gdańsk, where it will be shipped to the North Sea for underground storage. Cement producers are urging the Polish government to appoint a commissioner for CCS infrastructure and to enact legislative changes to support the construction of such installations. They also believe that rapid modernisation of the energy sector needs to occur to support the energy-intensive process of gas capture.
Cemsuisse urges CBAM adjustment for cement industry
25 March 2024Switzerland: The decision of the Swiss government in June 2023 against the implementation of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has been strongly criticised by the Swiss cement association, Cemsuisse. The association warns of a potential relocation of the Swiss cement industry without such a mechanism, referencing a report by Polynomics. This report concludes that a Swiss CBAM is necessary to level the playing field with EU and non-EU cement suppliers. The EU initiated a CBAM test phase in October 2023, aiming to mitigate production relocation risks to countries with less stringent environmental regulations.
The federal government concluded that a CBAM in Switzerland would benefit few emission-intensive industries at the expense of the wider economy, while also facing regulatory and trade policy risks. It plans to reassess the need for a CBAM in mid-2026, in line with the EU's interim CBAM report.
Cemsuisse, referencing the Polynomics report, states that waiting to potentially introduce a CBAM in Switzerland is not an option. Investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) are deemed essential for Switzerland's net-zero climate goal and without a CBAM, there is a risk of these investments being unviable due to uncertainty over cost recovery.
The report also points to the risk of increased clinker imports from third countries into the EU, which would be processed and then exported to Switzerland without CBAM levies. As an example, Cemsuisse mentions a planned milling station in Ottmarsheim, Alsace. It says that without a CBAM, the production site in Switzerland faces serious threats.
Cemsuisse said “Without CBAM, this certainty is lacking. And without CCUS, long-term production in Switzerland won't be viable. The population has accepted the climate protection law last summer, where the net-zero goal is legally anchored."
Germany: According to a new study backed by the German Cement Works Association (VDZ), the country's cement and lime industries require carbon capture and storage (CCS) for decarbonisation. The study outlines the need for a 4800km CO2 transport pipeline in Germany by 2035.
The VDZ warns that any delay could jeopardise Germany's 2045 climate neutrality target and estimates the investment for the new CO2 grid at €14bn. The network is expected to transport 6.5Mt/yr of CO₂ by 2030, increasing to 46Mt by 2045. Additionally, CCS transit from Switzerland, Austria and France is expected to contribute 15 - 20Mt.
VDZ president Christian Knell said "Cement manufacturers and other industries in the EU emissions trading system must produce largely climate-neutrally by 2040."
Heidelberg Materials Benelux to invest €450m in Antoing cement plant carbon capture project
29 February 2024Belgium: Heidelberg Materials Benelux will invest €450m in its Anthemis project, involving the installation of an 800,000t/yr carbon capture system, at its Antoing cement plant. The project is scheduled for completion in 2029. Captured CO2 will travel by pipeline to the North Sea for storage.
German government launches carbon capture and storage framework
29 February 2024Germany: The German government published its new carbon management strategy and draft carbon storage law (KSpG) on 26 February 2024. The KSpG revises understandings of carbon neutrality to include CO2 savings made through carbon capture and storage (CCS). The government says that the legislation primarily aims to support hard-to-abate sectors like cement, while coal-fired power plants will be barred from future CO2 pipeline access. Heidelberg Materials CEO Dominik von Achten was alongside politicians at the strategy launch. The producer’s Brevik cement plant in Norway is set to become carbon neutral through the capture and storage of 400,000t/yr of CO2.
German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck said "Achieving our climate targets without CCS is impossible."
Aker Solutions secures contract for Oslo CO2 terminal
15 February 2024Norway: Aker Solutions has won a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to develop Hafslund Oslo Celsio’s Port of Oslo CO2 terminal. The unit will facilitate the transport of CO2 to the Øygarden Northern Lights site under the Longship carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative. The initiative involves Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe’s Brevik cement plant.
Aker Solutions’ executive vice president, new energies, Henrik Inadomi said “At Aker Solutions, we have a growing track record in supporting our customers across the entire CCS value chain. From capture and transportation to permanent storage, we provide innovative solutions and work with leading partners to support CCS developments across the globe. We are committed to building on this expertise and further strengthening our relationship with Celsio. We are proud to have engineered a cost efficient and effective layout which enabled Celsio to proceed with the next phase of this landmark development.”
Oficemen and Enagás’ new collaboration to include development of carbon capture and storage economy
02 February 2024Spain: The Spanish cement manufacturers' association, Oficemen, has signed a two-year co-operation agreement with utilities provider Enagás. Under the agreement, the pair will explore decarbonisation techniques and solutions, including the development of infrastructure for transporting captured CO2, as well as hydrogen and oxygen. Oficemen members reduced their total CO2 emissions by 44% between 1990 and 2022. Europa Press News has reported that Oficemen believes that carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be crucial in realising the industry’s 2050 climate neutrality goal. Oficemen became the first industrial association in Spain to publish a net zero roadmap in 2020.
Italy: Utilities provider Snam says that it has begun selecting partners for its upcoming Ravenna carbon capture and storage (CCS) transport network. The network will connect hard-to-abate industrial facilities in Ravenna with 500Mt of CO2 storage space in the Mediterranean Sea. The total cost of infrastructure for the project is Euro350m.
CEO Stefano Venier said "The cement industry will be a central partner in this project. A partnership with Heidelberg will be announced in a few days."
Sumitomo Osaka Cement signs agreement on Setouchi - Shikoku CO2 Hub
29 December 2023Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement, Sumitomo Corporation, JFE Steel, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Woodside Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly conduct a business feasibility study looking at setting up a CO2 hub in the Setouchi and Shikoku regions. It will examine how CO2 can be collected from different industries, transported to a hub port and then shipped to Australia for sequestration. A signing of the MOU was held at the ASEAN-Japan Economic Co-Creation Forum in the presence of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito.
Sumitomo Osaka Cement operates two integrated plants in the Setouchi and Shikoku regions at Ako and Kochi respectively.
Who will build the cement plants of tomorrow?
13 December 2023Sinoma International Engineering revealed this week that it has signed a Euro218m contract to supply a new clinker production line for Holcim Belgium. The scope of the deal covers building the new line from limestone unloading via train to clinker transportation and storage. Provisional acceptance and first clinker are stipulated to occur within about four years, by late 2027. Holcim Belgium operates the Obourg Plant, its only integrated unit in the country, and the unit has been preparing to build a new line as part of its Go4Zero project.
Two main points compete for one’s attention with the project at the Obourg Plant. Firstly, this may be the first time a large Europe-based cement producer has publicly contracted a China-based supplier to build a new production line. Secondly, the new line is part of a process to first replace two wet kilns at the site with a dry kiln. This is part of a grand plan at the site to add oxyfuel technology to the plant and then start capturing most of the CO2 emitted for sequestration in the North Sea.
On the first point, China-based Sinoma International Engineering reported to the Shanghai Stock Exchange in early December 2023 that it had signed a contract for the project. Holcim Belgium has not said that it has appointed the subsidiary of CNBM but this is not unusual. Buyers are at liberty to name suppliers, or not as may be the case. Holcim has been talking about the Go4Zero project for several years though, so appointing a lead contractor is not surprising.
Yet, some cement companies in Europe have previously been circumspect about revealing the use of China-based suppliers. Lafarge France, for example, did not appear to publicly name the involvement of Sinoma International Engineering and its subsidiaries on the construction of a new line at its Martres-Tolosane cement plant between 2019 and 2022, although Lafarge Poland did say in 2020 that it had contracted China Triumph International Engineering for an upgrade to its Małogoszcz cement plant. No doubt there have been other plant projects in Europe from China-based suppliers that Global Cement Weekly is unaware of. It is also worth considering that just because a lead contractor on a plant project is from a particular country it doesn’t mean that the equipment and other sub-contractors necessarily are. And, of course, to add to the confusion, some Europe-based equipment suppliers are owned by companies based in China.
This leads to the second point. Holcim Belgium’s eventual goal is to set up a full-scale carbon capture, transportation and sequestration (CCUS) operation at Obourg using oxyfuel technology by the end of the 2020s. Spending over Euro200m on building a new (but conventional) production line is not trivial but it is being presented as one step towards creating a cement plant for the net zero age. To this end Holcim Belgium has been less shy in naming its partners for the second phase of the project: Air Liquide; Fluxys; and TotalEnergies. This may be due to the collaborative nature of this phase though and the need to apply for European Union (EU) funding to support it. In July 2023 Holcim disclosed that the EU Innovation Fund had allocated grants for three of its projects including the one at Obourg.
For reference, a number of other full-scale oxyfuel projects have been announced in Europe including in Germany at Heidelberg Materials' Geseke cement plant, Holcim Deutschland's Lägerdorf plant in Germany and Schwenk Zement’s Mergelstetten plant. Another one is planned for Heidelberg Materials’ CBR's Antoing cement plant in Belgium. Most of these are planned for the late 2020s or with pilots sooner. The key bit of information to consider here is that adding oxyfuel technology to a cement kiln (or building one with it to start with) makes it easier to capture CO2 from the flue gas as it is more concentrated. However, the technology is newer and less-tested than many post-combustion carbon capture methods. Hence, the world’s first full-scale CCUS unit at a cement plant, at Brevik in Norway, will use a post combustion method.
All of this begs the question about where the value will lie in building cement plants for the age of net zero? The planned work at Holcim Belgium’s Obourg Plant pretty much summarises this quandary. Building a cement production line is expensive but the cost of disposing of CO2 may become the single-biggest driver of whether a plant is profitable or not if governments are serious about reaching net zero. To that end today’s announcement from the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) calling on the parties to “transition away from fossil fuels to reach net zero” is another sign of the increasing effects of the so-called ‘carbon agenda’ upon the cement sector. In which case the companies that can supply equipment to take care of the CO2 emissions start becoming more important and discussions over who supplies the rest of the kit less so. Naturally, some cement equipment suppliers are already pivoting towards this approach. Others may find different solutions. Whether this works or not is a question for the future. In the mean-time, building new plants is looking increasingly collaborative.