Construction aggregates firm Heidelberg Materials UK has been granted planning permission to build a carbon capture plant at its Padeswood cement works in north Wales. The move brings the company a step closer to its plans to create the UK’s first net zero cement works.

The facility aims to capture and store up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year from Padeswood and transport it via the HyNet North West underground pipeline for secure storage under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

The project is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the area through investment and job creation, giving rise to about 50 new full-time jobs, and up to 500 additional jobs during construction.

Says CEO Simon Willis, “Cement is essential to the UK’s transition to net zero. It is fundamental to the development of everything from new offshore wind farms to nuclear power stations, to low carbon infrastructure, and the thousands of green jobs that these projects will create.”

The production of cement is carbon intensive, with a large proportion of emissions resulting from the chemical process involved in manufacture. That means they cannot be reduced by using low-carbon or renewable energy sources. The only way to remove them is to capture them using CCS before they enter the atmosphere.

Once operational, the Padeswood facility will capture almost all of the CO₂ produced during cement manufacture and enable the production of evoZero carbon captured net zero cement. Production may commence as early as 2029, setting the construction industry on a path to decarbonisation and helping the UK Government reach its 2050 net-zero targets.

Read more.