Holcim and the Innovation Fund (CINEA European Agency) signed the project grant agreement in Brussels on 19 January 2023. The total project costs for 10+ years are €380m. The investment costs (CAPEX) are €265m. The EU’s co-financing amounts to €228m.
Holcim has already made a number of investments in modernising the production of building materials that help to reduce CO2 emissions. Over the past three years, significant steps have been taken by Holcim in Poland to accelerate decarbonisation. It has introduced low carbon cements (ECOPlanet) and concretes (ECOPact). Holcim has increased the use of alternative fuels from non-recyclable waste and decarbonised materials (as raw materials) to reduce emissions in its production of clinker, the key component of cement. The second cement plant in Małogoszcz is also being modernised – the construction works are currently underway.
Innovative technologies, such as those focussed on capturing CO2, are essential to reduce emissions from production processes – in particular the decomposition of calcium carbonate during the cement clinker manufacturing process. The Kujawy Go4ECOPlanet project will capture 100% of the emissions so that the Kujawy Cement Plant will produce one of the first zero-emission cements in Europe. All these measures, combined with CO2 capture efforts, will translate into a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of concrete as well as of the entire construction industry, thus supporting the development of genuinely green buildings and other infrastructure.
The application of CO2 capture on an industrial scale will allow this technology to be replicated in other cement plants and industries around the world. The installation will be based on the Air Liquide's Cryocap™ FG technology that separates carbon dioxide from gases emitted into the atmosphere. In the first stage, once captured, CO2 will be liquefied and transported by rail to a transhipment point at a seaport – and from there, ships will deliver it to the North Sea, and it will be injected into a depleted oil field for permanent storage. The transport and storing of carbon dioxide in the port and its successive storage in the North Sea will be feasible due to collaboration with other partners with expertise and experience in liquefaction, transport, and gas storage. The goal is to create a complete carbon capture and storage chain.
The Go4ECOPlanet project implements the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Polish government's strategy – the primary goal of both is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The design process as well as concluding the agreements with project partners are all scheduled for 2023. The commissioning is planned for 2027.
During a meeting with stakeholders from the Świętokrzyskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodships that was held on 12 September, Holcim Polska summarised its environmental activities and investment projects. The Environment Day was also attended by a representative of the Marshal's Office in Kielce from the Department of Agriculture, Climate and the Environment, who touched on the development of circular economy in the region.
‘We are focusing on reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, over the past 20 years we have halved our CO2 emissions from 800 kg to 400 kg per tonne of cement. In addition, we will have implemented a modern carbon capture technology by 2030,’ said President of Holcim Polska Maciej Sypek, PhD, during the 33rd Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland (3-5 September 2024).
In its expectations of businesses, the EU repeats 'zero net emissions' like a mantra. Holcim is taking up this challenge. As a result, the Kujawy Cement Plant may become the first full ydecarbonised construction materials plant in Poland. Jolanta Zdunowska, Technical Director of Carbon Capture and Storage Projects at Holcim Polska, talks about the PLN 2-bln investment project.
The first zero-emission cement plant in Europe is to be built in 2027 in Poland, in the Kujawy region. Holcim is in the process of implementing the GO4ECOPLANET project, under which 100 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by Cementownia Kujawy will be captured.
The Kujawy Go4ECOPlanet project, which aims to capture 100 percent of CO2 emissions in Kujawy Cement Plant, enters the next stage.
The cement sector is characterized by a high degree of innovation in introducing solutions conducive to reducing the negative impact on the environment.
Holcim has secured substantial commitments from the European Union (EU) Innovation Fund for two of its breakthrough Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage projects in Germany and Poland.
