Heidelberg Materials UK Advances £400 Million CCUS Cement Plant Conversion in North Wales

Heidelberg Materials UK, a building aggregates supplier, is making significant progress in its £400 million initiative to convert the first cement plant in Britain to run on carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) technology.

The company has enlisted the expertise of energy engineers Worley to manage the design of the Padeswood factory's conversion in North Wales, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. The conversion is projected to capture and store as much as 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is roughly equivalent to eliminating the emissions from nearly a third of a million cars on British roads.

The partners' efforts on the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract will facilitate Heidelberg's final investment decision, with the conversion slated to commence in early 2023. The Padeswood plant has been identified by the UK government as a Track 1 carbon capture project within the north west's HyNet industrial cluster. While planning approval and financing grants are still pending, the project is expected to create over 50 full-time jobs at the plant, with the potential to pave the way for thousands more in the UK's carbon-neutral cement industry.

Source: The Energyst