Displaying items by tag: HeidelbergCement

UK: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson has installed a solar and wind-powered hydrogen generation demonstration unit at its Port Talbot Regen ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) plant in Port Talbot in Neath Port Talbot. The company says that the project is part of a collaboration with Swansea University’s Energy Safety Research Institute under the European Research and Development Fund’s Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions initiative. The hydrogen generated by the installation will replace natural gas in the GGBFS plant’s burners.

Head of sustainability Marian Garfield said, “It is estimated that cement is the source of just under 2% of UK CO₂ emissions. With demand for cement and cement replacement products predicted to increase by 25% by 2030, researchers and industry are working hard to reduce the level of CO₂ emissions associated with production. As a leading manufacturer, we take our responsibility very seriously. In the UK we have already achieved a 30% reduction in CO₂ emissions since 1990 across the business and have set an ambitious new target of a 50% reduction by 2030 from the same baseline. We are constantly looking to improve energy efficiency and carbon reduction at our cement and Regen GGBFS plants, so we are delighted to be involved with this innovative research project.”

Germany: HeidelbergCement has completed a review of its business and identified five assets to sell. Reuters has reported that the company plans to sell the first of the five assets in early - mid-2021. Chairman Dominik von Achten said that the group would not exit ‘rock-solid’ markets like Northern Europe. He added that Indonesia, where it holds a 51% stake in Indocement, is an ‘important market.’

Von Achten said that the group has made a strong start to 2021, though ‘visibility on future prospects’ remains low. Its focus is on raising the productivity of underperforming assets or selling them. He added that a margin improvement plan in its underperforming North American region is on track.

Germany: Mexico-based Cemex has announced its planned participation in Australia-based Calix and others’ LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement) 2 carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at HeidelbergCement’s Hanover cement plant in Lower Saxony. Cemex previously assisted the LEILAC partnership at its first installation at HeidelbergCement’s cement plant in Lixhe in Belgium. The company said that it will contribute to the technology's development utilising its gasification process expertise, leveraging its skills in alternative fuel (AF) consumption and computational fluid dynamic simulation design.

Global head of research and development Davide Zampini said, "Our participation in the LEILAC 2 project is another example of our continued efforts to deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete products globally by 2050. We are determined to have a significant direct involvement in research and development efforts pursuing high impact technologies in carbon capture, use, and storage."

UK: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson has announced a planned 80ha expansion of its Ouse Fen nature reserve partnership project with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Cambridgeshire. The company says the additional restored land from its Needingworth quarry will increase the area of the reserve to 298ha.

Unit manager Hilton Law said, “The Ouse Fen reserve is an outstanding example of minerals extraction leading to habitat creation on a landscape scale and highlights the benefits that managing the land left behind from quarrying can make in shaping and improving habitats for wildlife. We are proud to support the RSPB, Cambridgeshire County Council and others involved in the project, which will make an invaluable contribution to achieving UK biodiversity targets and securing the future of important wildlife habitats and species.”

The reserve is a home to marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits, in addition to otters and water voles.

Germany: HeidelbergCement, Australia-based Calix and a European consortium have chosen the Hanover cement plant in Lower Saxony for the second phase of the LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The installation will capture 20% of the plant’s capacity or 100,000t/yr of CO₂. The project will take place in three phases, with design completed by June 2021, a complete demonstration installation before the end of 2023 and project completion in 2025. The group previously installed a 25,000t/yr LEILAC CCS system at its Lixhe plant near Liege in Belgium, which completed its test phase in 2020.

Chair Dominik von Achten said, "The LEILAC technology has the potential to enable the cement and lime industries to efficiently capture their process emissions on an industrial scale. The pilot project in Hanover is one of several promising CO₂ capture technologies that we are currently testing at full speed within the HeidelbergCement Group."

Italy: An agreement between Italcementi and its unions has confirmed that its Bergamo research centre to stay in Italy. The agreement with the FenealUil, Filca-Cisl, Fillea-Cgil, Italcementi RSU unions is intended to preserve jobs at the company, maintain at least 15,000 hours/yr of research at the site and dedicate at least 1% of the company’s profits towards research and innovation. Parent company HeidelbergCement was reportedly considering a relocation of the centre to Heidelberg in Baden Württemberg, Germany in late 2020.

Separately, Italcementi’s grinding plant at Salerno has been approved to continue producing white cement. The decision follows staff cuts at the cement producer, according to the Il Mattino newspaper.

Canada: Lehigh Hanson has launched of EcoCem Plus at its Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The product is a blended Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) made using inter-grinding clinker, fly ash, limestone and gypsum. It is available in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The subsidiary of Germany-based HeildebergCement says it provides strength and durability while reducing the carbon footprint of concrete.

“The motivation behind the EcoCem brand of products is to reduce the embodied carbon of cement and concrete,” said Shawn McMillan, Vice President, Cement for Lehigh Hanson’s Canada Region. “The introduction of EcoCem Plus to the Prairie market builds on our commitment to providing environmentally responsible types of cement that deliver excellent performance while dramatically reducing CO2 emissions.”

Lehigh Cement has also published product and plant-specific environmental product declarations (EPD) for all of its cement products produced at its Edmonton plant.

Poland: HeildelbergCement subsidiary Górażdże Group has signed a 10-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BayRa to buy electricity from the forthcoming Witnica solar power plant. The project is the first subsidy-free PPA-backed large-scale solar park in Poland. Due for completion in the first half of 2021, the solar park will be the largest in Poland, with a capacity of 64.6MWp.

“Here is the ultimate proof that photovoltaic power can – without any subsidies - be competitive to conventional energies, even in a European country further north, which still generates 80% of its electricity from coal,” said Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa. Andrea Grotzke, Global Director of Energy Solutions at BayWa added, “This PPA serves as an economic structure for a fixed price hedge against rising electricity costs. Securing energy from solar not only reduces a company’s CO₂ footprint. We are convinced that it also results in significant savings on the corporate energy bill.” BayWa has set the goal of constructing solar and wind projects in Poland with a total installed capacity of more than 1GW by the mid-2020s.

Kuwait/Germany: HeidelbergCement has detailed the reasons behind the sale of its 51% stake in Hilal Cement, which has been led by HeidelbergCement subsidiary Suez Cement since 2016. The group said that the divestment represents the first step in a ‘comprehensive portfolio optimisation’ in line with its Beyond 2020 strategy.

Chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said, “We are pleased with the closing of the transaction in Kuwait.” He continued, “The focus of our portfolio management is the simplification of country portfolios and a prioritisation of the strongest market positions.”

Hilal Cement operates two cement terminals and four ready-mix plants.

Kuwait: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Suez Cement has sold its 51% majority stake in Hilal Cement. Decypha News has reported the new owner of the stake as Silver Share Real Estate. Boodai Group retains 44% of the remainder of shares.