HeidelbergCement AG is further expanding its portfolio of large-scale CCUS projects with a new initiative in the United States. The project at the Mitchell, Indiana, cement plant of HeidelbergCement’s US subsidiary Lehigh Hanson, Inc. aims to capture 95% of the CO2 emissions from the newly renovated production facility and store them in a local onshore reservoir in the Illinois Basin. Funding of about US$3.7 million for the upcoming project Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study has been granted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) in this crucial first step.
“CCUS continues to be a key part of our climate strategy,” said Dr Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board: “With now eight large-scale initiatives worldwide, our CCUS project portfolio keeps growing and is scaling up fast. Our ongoing projects in Europe and Canada are progressing very well. In Mitchell, we will build on the experience of those projects to supply carbon-free cement to our customers in the important US market at large scale.”
Lehigh Hanson’s Mitchell plant has been substantially upgraded in recent months to significantly increase energy efficiency and lower the company’s carbon footprint. Full production is anticipated to start in early 2023. The new facility will more than triple its current capacity to approximately 2.6 million tonnes of cement. “Our Mitchell plant now reflects state-of-the-art features to minimise energy consumption and enable the future utilisation of alternative fuels and raw materials,” said Chris Ward, Member of the Managing Board and responsible for the North America Group area: “Carbon capture technology is essential to offering carbon-free products and we are very excited to take the next steps in this journey at our Mitchell cement plant.”
To advance the carbon capture project, Lehigh Hanson will now conduct a site-specific FEED study. In addition to evaluating the cost and performance of the overall project, the study will examine social, economic, and environmental impacts.