HeidelbergCement to pilot carbon capture project in Poland

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ENERGY & UTILITIES

German building materials company HeidelbergCement has announced plans to pilot a carbon capture project at its Górażdże cement plant in Poland.

In the first pilot of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in Eastern Europe the company says it will demonstrate innovative post-combustion capture technology at the Polish cement plant.

The pilot plant is part of Project ACCSESS, a consortium of 18 industry partners and research organisations which, led by Norway's Sintef Energi, aims to significantly cut the costs of the CCS value chain and to provide access for CO2 captured in mainland Europe to storage infrastructure in the North Sea.

Read more: Novozymes to participate in Copenhagen carbon-capture project

Part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, ACCSESS has received €15 million of its €18 million budget from the European Union and is scheduled to run for four years.

“As part of our participation in ACCSESS, HeidelbergCement will pilot a new carbon capture technology in Poland”, said Dr Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement.

“The tests of an enzyme-based capture unit at our Górażdże plant will deliver important insights on how we can further reduce costs in the capture process. At the same time, it will emphasise our strategy to expand CCS further into our Eastern European based assets.”

The enzyme-based capture unit will allow a broader use of the waste heat and will simplify the control of secondary emissions. 

For HeidelbergCement, the ACCSESS project comprises three focal points. In addition to testing the separation technology in Poland, a study will be carried out to explore the optimal integration of a carbon capture unit at the Hanover plant in Germany.

Read more: World's largest carbon capture plant opens in Iceland

The third pillar focuses on all aspects of transporting CO2 from sites in mainland Europe to Norway, including all regulatory aspects of cross-border CO2 transport. The consortium will develop transport systems from the Hanover and Górażdże cement plants to the Northern Lights storage facility in Norway – a joint project by the oil and gas companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.

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