UK: The government has announced a €26.3bn investment to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in northern England. The investment will subsidise three projects to capture CO₂ from various sources, including Heidelberg Materials’ Padeswood cement plant, and support infrastructure for transporting and storing CO₂ in Liverpool Bay and the North Sea. The initiative also plans to establish the UK's first large-scale hydrogen production plant. The funding, promised over the next 25 years, aims to establish two carbon capture clusters in Merseyside and Teesside. The investment is expected to create ‘thousands’ of jobs, attract €9.5bn in private investment and advance the UK's climate objectives.
Heidelberg Materials UK CEO Simon Willis said “Today’s announcement from the government to drive ahead with investment in CCS clusters is a major milestone in the decarbonisation of UK industry and sets the construction sector on the path to net zero. As part of the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster, we are bringing forward our plans for the CCS plant at a UK cement works at Padeswood in North Wales. The government’s backing of this critical technology means that the production of zero carbon cement before the end of this decade has taken a big step forward.”
