HeidelbergCement is further expanding its portfolio of large-scale CCUS projects with a new initiative at its subsidiary Lehigh Hanson’s Mitchell, Ind. cement plant.
The project 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.
“CCUS continues to be a key part of our climate strategy,” said Dr Dominik von Achten, chairman of HeidelbergCement’s 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 U.S. market at large scale.”
The 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 and will more than triple its current capacity to approximately 2.6 million tonnes of cement.
To advance the carbon capture project, Lehigh Hanson will now conduct a site-specific Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study. In addition to evaluating the cost and performance of the overall project, the study will examine social, economic, and environmental impacts.
