Norway: HeidelbergCement has joined a list of leaders from various industries in endorsing Norway’s state-owned energy group Equinor’s carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) plans. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement, was among representatives of seven companies who signed memoranda of understanding with Equinor.
HeidelbergCement’s Norwegian subsidiary Norcem has been involved in CCS research at its 1.2Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Brevik since 2011. In early 2018, the government shortlisted the plant for its multiple-industry ‘Northern Lights’ CCS project. Beginning in 2023, Equinor will remove 0.4Mt/yr of CO2, half of the plant’s total CO2 output, from Brevik for storage in empty oil and gas fields beneath the North Sea.
In a statement, HeidelbergCement expressed its intention towork together with Equinor to optimise CO2 transportation and develop Europe-wide disposal solutions