Displaying items by tag: Electricity

Egypt: Arabian Cement Company has signed a 30-year power purchase agreement with IRSC for renewable electricity. The deal covers the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of the second phase of the firm’s solar power plant. The plant will have a total capacity of 17.6MW and is expected to produce 32.5GW/yr of electricity.

Brazil: Buzzi subsidiary Cimento Nacional has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with renewable energy provider Casa dos Ventos for 65MW/yr of wind power from the 756MW Serra do Tigre and 360MW Babilonia Sul wind farms. The agreement will supply 100% of the producer's electricity requirements in its Brazilian facilities.

The Serra do Tigre wind farm is currently under construction in Rio Grande do Norte, but the Babilonia Sul wind farm is operational in Bahia.

Europe: Sweden-based SaltX has signed a letter of intent with German engineering firm thyssenkrupp Polysius to collaborate on establishing 100% electric cement production facilities in Europe. The facilities will combine SaltX’s electric arc calciner (EAC) technology with thyssenkrupp Polysius’ material handling solutions.

CEO of SaltX Lina Jorheden said "Strong partnerships are essential for us to effectively implement our technology and reduce millions of tonnes of CO₂ emissions from the industrial sector. Our collaboration with thyssenkrupp Polysius is crucial for developing complementary systems to the EAC technology and building electrified facilities for our customers."

Sweden: Heidelberg Materials has successfully operated a 300kW plasma-heated cement kiln at its Slite cement plant, which it claims is the first of its kind. The producer has achieved 54 hours of continuous operation, with 60% CO₂ concentration in the flue gas. The aim is to reach 99%.

The kiln is part of the ELECTRA project, which aims to replace traditional combustion processes with electricity-based solutions, like plasma. The project consists of 17 partners from 8 countries.

Project manager Bodil Wilhelmsson said "It looks very promising. We started the tests at the end of last year and can now say with certainty that this is the right way to go: we will be able to produce clinker with plasma."

Fuel-related CO₂ emissions from cement production are eliminated because no fuel needs to be used in the production process. Instead, CO₂ is heated to over 5000°C, where it becomes a plasma jet that heats the material in the kiln.

Wilhelmsson added "The absence of fuel in the process means that there is no ash in the product. This means that a parameter that could affect the quality of the product if it fluctuates is no longer considered. So, it looks like the quality of the clinker can actually be slightly higher in this process."

Heidelberg Materials plans to build a 1MW kiln in Skövde cement plant in 2026, where further tests will continue.

Saudi Arabia: City Cement Company has signed an agreement with the National Electricity Transmission Company to build a 106MW transmission station at its Nisah plant. Mist News has reported that electricity transmitted via the station will supplant oil generators at the plant. Construction is scheduled for completion later in 2025.

Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe says it is speeding up the construction of two solar power plants, with a combined capacity of 30MW, to enhance power supply to its cement plants. The company plans to start work on the solar units from the first quarter of 2025 with completion scheduled for the second half of 2026, according to the Herald Zimbabwe newspaper. Albert Sigei, Managing Director, said that the company was also continuing to work with the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to improve the electricity supply.

Germany: Iberdrola Germany and Schwenk Zement have entered a long-term electricity supply agreement. Schwenk will receive 1500GWh from the Windanker offshore wind farm, currently under construction in the Baltic Sea. This supply will account for about 20% of Schwenk's electricity needs. The wind farm will have 21 turbines, each with a capacity of 15MW, and will cover an area of approximately 17.9 km², located 38km northeast of Rügen. The farm will be connected to the grid in 2026.

Iran: Ali Akbar Alvandian, the Secretary of the Cement Industry Employers' Association, says that cement plants have been forced to cut production due to a shortage of gas. He said that plants near cities had been forced to halve production, according to comments made to the ILNA news agency. Plants in the countryside, however, have been able to cope better by using mazut heavy fuel oil. In addition cement companies were also negatively affected by electricity rationing over the summer. At its peak, in August 2024, 70% of kilns were closed.

Despite these issues there have been no significant changes in the price of cement due to the country’s use of commodity exchanges. However, exports have decreased by 17% year-on-year in the first seven months of the year. Most of the country’s clinker is exported to Iraq, Kuwait and India. The main destinations for cement include Afghanistan, Russia, Kuwait, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Pakistan.

Switzerland: ABB has launched a white paper outlining the challenges the global cement industry must tackle to decarbonise operations in line with global emissions reduction targets and the role technology will play in this.

The white paper is supported by industry associations and, in it, ABB details a technology roadmap for potential solutions to achieve net-zero targets. It combines insights from a range of key industry players - including customers, technology partners, industry media and associations - along with ABB’s commercial specialisation. It details the benefits of advanced electrification used in tandem with technologies adopted through industry collaborations. The white paper also includes discussions around how sustainable cement could be defined, as well as practical advice as to what steps producers can immediately take in their decarbonisation journey. Electrification is identified as a major component in the decarbonisation of the cement industry, with the ability to replace fossil fuel burners with electrified, or zero-carbon, solutions. These are predicted to help significantly reduce emissions in line with industry ambitions.

ABB sells products in the electrification and automation sectors. Its Process Automation business automates, electrifies and digitalises industrial operations that address a wide range of essential needs. Its products are marketed to help customers in process, hybrid and maritime industries improve performance and safety of operations.

The full white paper can be accessed online here: https://new.abb.com/cement/campaigns/cementing-a-sustainable-future

Germany: Schwenk Zement will utilise Germany-based Orcan Energy's organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology at its Allmendingen cement plant in Baden-Württemberg. The installation of five ORC modules aims to harness residual heat from the clinker cooling process to generate electricity, saving 8.5GWh/yr. Orcan Energy expects operations to begin in the first quarter of 2025. The company has previously worked with Dyckerhoff and Cemex.