Displaying items by tag: Electricity

Philippines: Holcim Philippines will invest US$35m in sustainability initiatives at its four plants over the next three years. The investments will also include US$17.5m for its waste management arm, Geocycle, increasing capacity for local government unit waste processing.

Chief sustainability officer Samuel Manlosa Jr. said "There is also a side where, if we want to take in more volume, we need to increase our capacity to shred and prepare the materials. Our cement plants, even as sophisticated and technologically advanced as they are, were constructed 20 years ago when norms were different, so we had to make changes in the process to make sure that the plants were able to accept more."

The company will further invest between US$8.7m and US$17.5m in renewable energy and electrification of its vehicle fleet. President and CEO Horia Adrian said "We are purchasing electricity right now, but we have plans to put in place solar facilities and we are looking at the possibility of using electricity generated from biowaste here. By the end of 2024, some of them should be ready."

He concluded that investments at the Bulacan and La Union plants are set to start this year, with those in Davao and Lugait scheduled for 2025.

Heidelberg Materials announced this week that it is preparing to close its integrated cement plants at Beffes and Villiers-au-Bouin in France by October 2025. It framed the restructuring as a response to ‘a significant decline in cement sales in France’ and a plan to focus on low-carbon products. Unfortunately, local media reported that around 170 jobs will be lost at the two sites. The company says it is looking at ‘socially acceptable solutions’ including redeployment to other locations in the country.

Investment has been forthcoming from Heidelberg Materials France in recent years. It reminded everyone that it initiated a Euro400m scheme at its France-based subsidiary Ciments Calcia in late 2020. Most of this was earmarked towards a new production line at the Airvault plant, which is currently being built. Other schemes at the Beaucaire, Bussac-Forêt and Couvrot integrated plants followed. More recently, Heidelberg Materials launched a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project at Airvault, part of the GOCO2 initiative, with the aim of starting initial capture in 2030 with full 1Mt/yr capture planned later. What the company didn’t mention though was at the time of that 2020 investment it was also preparing to convert the integrated Gargenville plant into a grinding unit, stop white cement production at its Cruas plant with the intention of turning the site into a terminal and it wanted to reduce its workforce by around 140. To be fair to Heidelberg Materials though, it did have the same goal of reducing its specific net CO₂ emissions. The added detail this week was that the group aims to generate half of its revenue from sustainable products that are either low-carbon or circular by 2030.

Heidelberg Materials France is not alone with its ambitions for low-carbon products. Holcim notably opened in early 2023 what it said was the first calcined clay unit in Europe at its Saint-Pierre-la-Cour cement plant. Heidelberg Materials then followed in May 2023 with the announcement of a calcined clay project at its Bussac-Forêt cement plant. Other clay projects from Vicat, NeoCem and Neo-Eco have been reported since then. The other prominent France-based blended cement producer that has steadily been building its business in recent years is Hoffmann Green Cement. More general plant upgrade projects that are also worth mentioning include Eqiom’s (CRH) upgrade to its Lumbres plant in February 2024 and the ignition of a new kiln at Lafarge France’s Martres-Tolosane plant in October 2023. Both of these projects have been framed as driving sustainability.

Graph 1: Cement production in France, 2014 - 2022. Source: France Ciment.

Heidelberg Materials’ assessment about the poor state of the cement market has been confirmed by local media. Sales reportedly started falling in 2022, were down by 6% year-on-year in 2023 and further downward pressure is expected in 2024. Production data shown in Graph 1 above released by France Ciment, the national cement association, doesn’t really show what has been happening with sales. Over the last 20 years production hit a high of around 22Mt in the mid-2000s before settling around 16 - 17Mt/yr from 2015 onwards. The more telling trend, perhaps, has been the increase in CEM II blended cements from 50% in 2012 to 64% in 2022. Cement production may have stayed roughly the same over the last decade but it is using less clinker than it used to. Hence the pressure on companies like Ciments Calcia to reduce clinker capacity.

A further cost pressure facing cement producers in France is the impending end to the price cap on electricity scheduled by the end of 2025. The government enacted the scheme in late 2021 at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, but then carried on as energy prices spiked following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. France Ciment lobbied in August 2023 for further protection for the sector using the argument that decarbonisation was not possible without electricity available for a reasonable price. It added that decarbonising the cement sector in France with carbon capture would cost around Euro3.5bn. Electricity prices started rising in February 2024 as part of the government’s phase out of the scheme.

Finally, 17 people were arrested on 5 April 2024 in connection with a demonstration at Lafarge France’s Val-de-Reuil ready-mixed concrete plant in Eure. Environmental activists reportedly trespassed on the site, according to local press, causing an estimated Euro450,000 in damages with acts such as spraying foam into machinery, ripping up bags of cement, breaking windows and more. The activists presented their actions as a response to both the environmental impact of cement and concrete production and the ongoing legal allegations about Lafarge’s actions in Syria in the early 2010s. Lafarge France’s La Malle integrated plant was also similarly targeted in December 2022 when around 200 activists stormed the site and caused damage to machinery and property. Lafarge’s response at the time was to remark that there was a feeling of misunderstanding given that the La Malle plant was piloting various decarbonisation methods.
All of this presents a febrile picture of the cement sector in France. Sales are down, electricity costs are set to go up and producers are switching to low-carbon cement products. Alongside this they are also closing clinker production plants but are also investing in new decarbonisation projects. At the same time environmental protestors have also been targeting cement and concrete plants and Lafarge’s association with its former actions in Syria appear to have made it more of a target than the other manufacturers. It is unsurprising then that Holcim, the parent company of Lafarge France, has raised the risk of damage to the group’s reputation, with both the general public and investors, should it fail to meet its targets. Reaching net zero was never going to be easy but setting unrealistic targets is increasingly not an option.

Malaysia: Borneo Cement Sabah expects to commission its US$417m integrated Nabawan cement plant later in 2024. The project additionally involves the construction of energy, road and water infrastructure. Malay Mail Online News has reported that Borneo Cement Sabah is a joint venture of Setia Alam and state-owned Sabah Economic Development Corporation, with investment from China National Building Material subsidiary Sinoma.

General manager Michael Kinsuan said that Borneo Cement Sabah will hire 1000 workers for the plant.

Mexico/Germany: Cemex and waste heat recovery (WHR) systems developer Orcan Energy plan to scale up WHR technologies supplied by Orcan Energy at multiple Cemex sites globally. This new multi-site portfolio approach extends an existing partnership, through which the companies trialled Orcan’s systems for electricity generation at Cemex Deutschland’s Rüdersdorf cement plant in Germany.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menéndez said “We already have an initial collaboration with Orcan. Based on the modularity of their solution, Orcan offers the flexibility of both installation and contracts. Thanks to this crucial flexibility, we can adapt to any upcoming changes in our plants. The approach enables us to reduce carbon emissions right now without limiting ourselves in implementing any future technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage. This partnership will help us achieve our sustainability targets and contribute to our aim to use all available heat.”

Orcan Energy’s chief executive officer Andreas Sichert said “We are looking forward to entering this large-scale decarbonisation partnership with Cemex after our initial cooperation in Germany. This step is a testament to Cemex’s forward-looking strategy and the company’s commitment to achieving net zero. For Orcan Energy, this is another milestone in scaling the business internationally with global enterprises. We are proud to be the partner of choice for the cement industry. Our large footprint across the industry shows the economic capability and the technical excellence of our modular and flexible solution, especially in view of uncertain future economic and regulative developments.”

Spain: Capital Energy has won a contract to supply renewable energy to Cementos Alfa’s Mataporquera cement plant in Cantabria. The energy company will supply 80,000MWh/yr to the subsidiary of Cementos Portland Valderrivas under the contract, initially from five local wind farms. The contract takes the form of long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), under a self-consumption scheme with surpluses.

UK: The UK Department for Transport has awarded Cemex UK a grant of just under Euro2m to build a shore power system for its maritime logistics operations at Shoreham Port in West Sussex. The system will enable the company to eliminate on-board diesel engine use during marine aggregate discharges. It will incorporate battery energy storage and solar power generation to provide constant power, whilst simulating fluctuating power demands. Cemex UK will now work with automation specialist Iconsys and the University of Warwick to deploy a demonstration system, which will run from April 2024 until April 2025.

Cemex West Europe materials operational excellence and business development director Laurence Dagley said "Our initial feasibility study for this shore power system identified an opportunity to save a significant amount of CO₂ during each dredger discharge, while also improving local air quality at the port itself. We are, therefore, pleased to have received this funding to progress to the next stage of the project and undertake on-site demonstration."

US: Monarch Cement and Evergy Energy Solutions plan to build a 20MW solar project in Humboldt, Kansas. The project is scheduled to commence in early 2024, and will serve as a ‘benchmark for integrating renewable energy in business operations,’ according to the partners.

Monarch Cement president Kent Webber said “The board of directors and management of Monarch Cement are extremely excited about this win-win venture, where we are making a giant movement toward achieving our 2050 carbon neutrality goals, being socially responsible and providing a more than significant return on investment to our shareholders." He added "Evergy Energy Solutions has done an incredible job of leading and providing solutions at every obstacle. We couldn't be happier with Evergy Energy Solutions’ performance, professionalism and command of the subject."

India: Sagar Cements recorded sales of US$80.5m in the third quarter of the 2024 financial year, up by 16% year-on-year from US$69.3m during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Cement sales volumes rose by 14% year-on-year. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that the growth allowed Sagar Cements to reduce its net losses by 57%, to US$1.22m.

Managing director Sreekanth Reddy said “Favourable prices prevailed in our key markets. As far as EBITDA and margins are concerned, we observed a significant enhancement on a per-tonne basis, consistent with our earlier projections.” Reddy added “We anticipate this positive trend to persist in the future, supported in part by higher utilisation levels of recently-acquired units and strategic initiatives aimed at promoting the use of green power, alternative fuels and the deployment of electric trucks and wheel loaders.”

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has informed investors via a posting on the Saudi Exchange that it expects its cost of sales to rise by 13%. This is due to an increase in the price of fuels by its supplier Saudi Aramco. The cement producer noted that the waste heat recovery (WHR) system installed at its Najran cement plant has partly reduced the anticipated impacts on costs.

Najran Cement said “The company will work during the coming period to explore ways to reduce the financial impact of this adjustment on the company’s profits and will continue to implement its plans to reduce costs and improve production and operating efficiency. It will also work with government agencies to explore ways to diversify energy sources.”

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos and Atlas Renewable Energy have launched a joint venture to build a 470MW solar power plant in Paracatu, Minas Gerais. Additionally, the parties signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of 100GWh/yr of solar energy for Votorantim Cimentos' cement plants between 2026 and 2041. The moves align with the producer’s aim to achieve 75% renewable energy reliance in its operations.